Dead Wizard Walking - Book I: What Makes A Soul
by slayst
Summary: Harry's time on Earth came to an abrupt end when Voldemort's spirit, freshly out of Quirrell, phased through his body. The boy should have been allowed to rest, but Dumbledore and a certain Devourer just don't see it that way. - "Shadows: Heretic Kingdom" crossover.
1. 01 - First Lie

Welcome, dear readers, to " _Dead Wizard Walking"._ This story is a crossover between 'Harry Potter' and the game 'Shadows: Heretic Kingdom', and starts in Hogwarts at the end of Harry's first year. There will be no bashing, and (for now) no pairing.

I hope you'll have a good time reading this.

* * *

 ** _Dead Wizard Walking - Book I: What Makes A Soul_**

Albus Dumbledore was running around his school's corridors as fast as his poor choice in clothing was making possible. Old-fashioned wizards robes just weren't cut for a marathon, and proved it by restraining every single step taken by the headmaster. Levitating down the trap-door and passing the several trial rooms in a row was just as difficult for him.

Had he wear something else, anything else, he perhaps may have made it in time to save the one boy the Wizardry World's future rested upon.

He hadn't.

Dissipating the flames and entering the room, Albus immediately focused his attention on the boy's body. And like that, he knew. The peaceful expression was too peaceful, the muscle way too relaxed...

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived and child of the prophecy, was dead.

 _\- DWW -_

When Harry Potter regained consciousness, he couldn't trust what he saw.

Darkness.

Or at least, something close-by. Several tones of blue, purple and black were mixing, casting the world in an unhealthy glow.

He rose from his crouching position and looked around him, confirming that he was still in the room where sat the Mirror of Erised, said artifact glowing in the same supernatural spectrum. Magical child or not, Harry was pretty sure that seeing things in such colors couldn't possibly be natural, nor good for him in any way.

Something had to have gone terribly wrong during his fight with Quirell. Well, sort of fight. He had just grabbed the man, turning him to ashes in a matter of seconds with some unknown ability. Then that shadow had went through him and…

"Wait, that's it, the shadow. It must have been a trick of Voldemort, a curse or something."

" **Well thought, boy. Though thou are wrong."**

Harry turned around, coming face to face with… something.

The creature was looking like a half-finished armored skeleton. It had no neck, no waist and no legs, those last parts replaced by what resembled an opened and half-done robe made out of the same bone-like structure composing the rest of its body. The interior of said body was inhabited by a blue flame-like energy, projecting vicious shadows from and on the creature. As for the head, from where originated the deep guttural voice he had heard, he couldn't figure out it's shape, covered as it was by a giant bird's skull.

" **Thou aren't cursed, but dead."**

"Dead? I can't be dead." replied Harry.

" **And yet, thou are. Thy soul has been forced out of thy body by a wraith and sent to the Shadow."** it said casually.

No. Way.

There was just no way in hell that he could be … well, dead. Not like that, not when he had just found friends, not after finding a home, and definitely not because of something as stupid as this … Right?

But being dead would explain the whole "neon-world" thingy… probably. What it would explain without a doubt was that weird realization he had just had, that he hadn't breathed even once since regaining consciousness.

…

So that was it?

…

He was dead?

…

Just like that?

…

"Well, F# %!"

 _\- DWW -_

The creature stayed stoic when the young wizard vented his frustration and anger, in a seemingly endless string of swear words that no eleven years old should know, was it not for the joys of boarding schools. Dying was hard for the livings, he had come to understand and somehow respect that, before, in another time. Besides, time meant nothing for one like himself. And so he waited…

Until he felt a tingle around his neck. The old fool was being impatient and playing with his leach. Damn that old man to oblivion for what he had done.

Reluctantly, he floated to the boy and interrupted his ranting.

" **Thou hast yelled long enough. Cometh boy, we have much to do."**

 _\- DWW -_

The voice totally startled Harry.

"What the? Oh, right, you're here."

The… thing was so quiet that he had forget him … it … whatever.

"What did you said?"

" **Thoo must join me."** replied the entity, more forcefully.

Join him? What for? What was he anyway?

"Excuse me but… are you a Grim Reaper?"

Hey, if he was dead, that was the most logical explanation to the presence of this being. He had come to collect his soul and escort it to the afterlife.

" **Don't comparest me to those weak beings. I am a Devourer."**

"Oh, sorry then."

He truly was, even if he had no idea why. Still, he had mistaken that thing for another and it was apparently an insult, so he just had to apologize.

"What's a Devourer?" he asked a little more warily, as the name sounded sinister. That the creature was speaking what sounded like Middle English wasn't helping either, as its voice and tone were as menacing as that name.

As only answer, he saw the bird mask lift slightly and a lower-jaw entered his field of vision, as this same vision started to become blurry.

Harry felt like his body was being consumed by a raging inferno, before melting away. He saw the open mouth come down on him and then… nothing.

 _\- DWW -_

Harry blinked.

Then he blinked again.

Okay, he had heard somewhere that third time was the charm. Surely it would do it.

Aaaand nope, he was still seeing the infirmary's ceiling, without the funny colors. But he couldn't be in the infirmary. He was on the third floor, plus he was dead. There was just nothing that Madam Pomfrey could do, unless she truly was an evil necromancer like he had heard from some six years.

He glanced around the room. There were flowers, some wrapped gifts, and no sign of any blue or purple outline around anything. Oh yeah, and he was breathing.

So the colors, him being dead, that devourer thing… could it had been nothing but a dream?

A second passed, then a few dozens.

Harry started to laugh. He was alive and somehow surrounded by gifts, life just couldn't get any better.

" **What are thou doing, boy? Hath thou lost thee mind?"**

But it could get so much worst. Those few words had shattered his joy as surely as a lifetime jail sentence alongside his cousin Dudley.

Harry screamed.

"Harry!"

And screamed.

"Harry!"

And screamed some more.

"HARRY!"

The headmaster shaking him and yelling in his face managed to get through to him, barely. Getting out of his panic attack, the boy threw himself at the old wizard and started to cry in his beard.

All the while, he was muttering "Dead… I'm dead..."

The wizard let him cry for some time, before taking the boy's shoulders and extracting him out of his beard. He looked Harry in the eyes and calmly said "And yet, you're here."

That surely lightened a little something in the poor boy's eyes.

"I… I am. But how?"

" **Because I brought thee back."**

Harry flinched.

The headmaster saw it and gave him a faint smile.

"He's talking to you, isn't he?"

Harry nodded weakly.

"What is he? Some kind of ghost?"

The headmaster smile wavered a little.

"You are close enough, Devourers are high-ranking demons living in Shadow."

"Shadow? Is that this weird neon place I saw?"

Albus chuckle. Only this boy could oversee the whole demon business and jump straight on Shadow while making it sound like a nightclub. How Albus Dumbledore knew what were nightclub was better left unsaid.

"I've never heard anyone describing it as neon, but yes, it is."

"Wait, you said he's a demon?"

"Sadly yes, but you don't have to worry about him, he has no control over you."

" **That is what thou thinkest, foolish wizard."** said the Devourer in an even deeper voice. **"This boy is dead and thus rightfully mine."**

Harry's brain was turning a little faster than what it was used to. He was dead, yet he wasn't. The Devourer was apparently somewhere in him and had just called for possession over him.

"Is it… is it true then? Am I truly dead?"

Albus sighted. He wasn't payed enough to announce this kind of thing to a child, no matter who that child was.

"You are, in a way."

That answer only got him a raised eyebrow.

"Why 'In a way'? Did that thing brought me back to life?"

"Again, yes and no. Harry Potter did died in that room, but his soul lingered in Shadows. It allows the Devourer to find and assimilate it, so that you could take his place. Through the Devourer's influence, Harry Potter became what's know as a Puppet. You've both ceased to exist as individual entities and became something part-human and part-Devourer, two souls sharing minds and bodies."

Harry's mouth opened wide.

"I'm a zombie."

"Not quite my boy, you're very much alive and perfectly healthy. You're merely cohabiting with a demon. That's precisely why calling him was better than any other solution."

"Calling him? YOU CALLED THAT THING?"

"I'm ashamed to say that I did."

Harry's vision of the headmaster took a good shot. The man he was starting to see as a grandfather of sort had made him into this.

"But… why?"

"You had to live, for all of our sakes. I wasn't planning on bothering you with those details, for they would have ruin your childhood, but given the circumstances..."

The man's voice was dead and he was looking more than a little frightened. He took a deep breath and spurred those dreaded words.

"Prior to your birth, a prophecy was made. It stated that a child would be the downfall of the Dark Lord Voldemort. And you were, on that fateful night years ago. But as you've seen, Voldemort took many precautions and is far from being gone. It's for that reason that you, Harry Potter, are still the only one capable of bringing him down. With you dead, Voldemort would have been unstoppable and the Wizardry World would have fallen. So yes, I called the Devourer, because sometimes, the sake of many is greater that the sake of one."

Harry sat back on his bed and his eyes glassed over for a few seconds. Well, more like a few minutes, but that was a hell of a lot to process.

A prophecy? Someone, someday, had predicted that this would happen and that HE would have to take a stand? That he would stop Voldemor? Somehow?

But how could he? He was a boy, just a boy. How could he face a grown wizard, a dark one to boot?

He wanted to cry, to yell, to flee and hide far away. But above all, he wanted to curse the headmaster into the next century. The man intentionally had hidden this for almost a year, and turned him into a living dead.

Albus sat in front of the silent boy. The next part of his explanation was going to be difficult and he truly was getting too old for this kind of things, but it would definitely relieve Harry of some of this building up anxiety. He decided that a picture was worth a thousand words and put his hand inside his robe's pocket, retrieving an object. The blood red Sorcerer's Stone soon shined in the light, forcing Harry to blink and come back to the present.

"Now, if you're afraid about the demon controlling you, know that it would indeed have been a true problem if not for this."

Despite the Devourer sudden grumble, Harry kept quiet, waiting for what was to come.

"Devourers are usually the dominant force in this kind of relationship, capable of handing or taking over their puppet's control at will. Thankfully, the stone can be used as a focus to actively repulse the demon, and its elixir, though inefficient in reviving you as a human, was perfectly suited to act as a soul anchor for this form. It helped stabilized you, making your soul slightly more powerful than it was supposed to be and giving you full control. The Devourer will still remain, but you'll get to stay true to who you truly are."

Harry fell down on his mattress and laughed, looking at the ceiling. It was definitely not a happy laugh, it sounded of sorrow and uncertainty.

"Who I am? I don't even know anymore."

Albus used his best grandfatherly voice to answer.

"You are Harry Potter, son of James and Lily Potter, first year Gryffindor and Seeker for his House's Quiddich team, friend of Ronald Weasley, Neville Longbottom and one Hermione Granger. No matter what happen, you must never forget that."

That night, Harry's body shook for hours as he cried himself to sleep.

 _\- DWW -_

When morning arose, Harry spent a good amount of time thinking of this new development in his life, or afterlife apparently.

His first year was almost done, which was a good thing. He also had killed a teacher (possessed maybe, but a teacher nonetheless) with his bare hands. How, he hadn't the slightest idea.

" **It looked like an Incineration."**

The voice took him by surprise and he jumped gracefully.

Oh yeah, he couldn't blamed Quirell anymore, since he was himself living with a soul-eating demon.

"A what?"

" **Incineration, a defensive contact spell favored by The Daughter of Fire."**

"Who was she?" asked Harry with genuine curiosity. The demon had sounded almost proud for a moment.

The Devourer kept silent, reminding of another time, in another place. Working with Evia Garulian had been eventful but… he had gained much.

" **She was another soul I lived with, long ago… Thee remindest me of her, boy."**

"Really?"

" **Thou art as foolish and hot-headed as her."**

And now he sounded smug.

Harry decided to ignore him and went back to his thoughts. He was somehow destined to stop Voldemort, which would be a hell of a task. The good point was that he was aware of it and would have time to train.

The final thought he had was that he was slowly starting to hate a certain old wizard. Albus Dumbledore had turned him into a sort of schizophrenic undead for the sake of the world. Oh he got it, truly, he did. Had he been aware of that damn prophecy sooner, he would have volunteered anyway. But being lied to because it would have 'ruined his childhood' was like a bittersweet symphony to him. He never had a real childhood, it wasn't like it would have made a difference anyway.

He got out of his day dream upon hearing the smooth voice of the nurse, Mme Pomfrey.

"No, no and no."

Okay, so there was no smoothness in her voice. In fact, it appears that she was yelling.

"M. Potter needs rest and can't receive visitors."

"But you let Professor Dumbledore see him yesterday." argued the small feminine voice of one Hermione Granger.

"He IS the headmaster, that is quite different."

"But..." tried one Ron Weasley.

"I'm fine Madam Pomfrey, I can see them." said Harry, leaning toward the door.

The medi-witch seemed to put her patient's safety above her need to forbade visitors, as she rushed to his side without caring for the two students who were following her.

"That is not for you to decide, Mister Potter. It is good that you're awake, but such deep weariness doesn't get away in a night, you have to rest properly."

" **It does for us."** provided the Devourer, much to Harry's surprise.

The woman grabbed her wand and did several scans, before nodding approvingly.

"You appear to be fine so I'll allow yours friends to stay for five minutes. But five minutes only."

"Yes mam, thank you."

She smiled before returning to her office, leaving the friends together. Perhaps her reputation wasn't deserved in the end.

"Oh, Harry, we were so worried when the headmaster forbade us to see you."

"He did?"

What an old bastard.

"Yes, he said it wasn't safe." said Ron.

Well, it was to protect them… maybe it truly wasn't safe yet.

"When was it?"

"Yesterday, after he went in the chamber to help you."

When he had still be dead, before the Devourer had swallowed his soul. Dumbledore was right, it wouldn't have been good for his friends to see his body.

"He did well."

"Why? Were you cursed or something?"

"Yeah… something."

"But you're fine now, right?"

"I am, Hermione."

" **We both are."** added the demon, apparently fond of ill-timed comments.

"I am" repeated Harry.


	2. 02 - Shadow Of Oneself

For the Puppet known as Harry Potter, the end of term went fast. He got out of the infirmary with the nurse's blessing, clapped with everyone else when Gryffindor won the House Cup thanks to last-minute additional points, retrieved rather good exam results and chatted with his friends during the Hogwarts Express' return to King's Cross Station.

What everyone missed was how fake his smile was. He had kept up the appearances, acted as he would have in any other circumstances… but as soon as he climbed in his uncle's car, his mask fell.

Said uncle was angry toward the boy for daring to make him take the car, only to retrieve him at the station. After all, the boy could have walked, right? He was about to make a nasty little comment about the freak school and their freak manners, as a form of retribution. The words got stuck in his throat when he saw his nephew's cold facade.

 _\- DWW -_

4 Privet Drive had never been quieter.

For the entirety of the school vacations, there has been no yelling, no crying, no burst of rage and no leather slapping on freshly-wounded flesh. With the exception of a few hoots coming from the resident snow owl, the house was like stuck under a silence spell.

It wasn't, kids just weren't trusted enough to be allowed the use of their magical abilities at home. It doubly wasn't, since no first year knew the charm used to soundproof a room, even less a full house.

The reason for this unusual silence was the apparent 'it doesn't matter anyway' attitude of the least appreciated resident, Harry James Potter. The boy was so cold that every single Dursley had stayed away from him. Petunia was avoiding him, Vernon had regressed to a point where he was barely using gestures or half-formed sentences to interact with him, and even Dudley had lost interest in his favorite punching-ball. There was just no point in trying to bother someone who couldn't be annoyed.

Several weeks had went by since Harry had come back from Hogwarts, yet he hadn't thought about his friends, not even once. Frankly speaking, he couldn't care less. In those few weeks, he had drowned himself in his studies – which had just made him see the Wizardry World for the retarded place that it was –, all the while discussing with the Devourer. That decision had been forced partly by a fear of the unknown, and by the simple fact that his life was now linked to the demon's. Understanding him and his world was crucial.

In fact, today was his birthday but that had got way over his head. For him, today was finally the day when he would allow the Devourer to take control. Harry Potter would step back for a moment, and the demon would get to explore the Shadow.

The young wizard stood in the middle of his room, body as relaxed as possible. He closed his eyes and began to breath steadily.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Inhale…

[Knock-knock-knock]

Of course, his relatives just had to barge in now. Well, no point in being overly-aggressive or just plain slow in his answer, he didn't wanted them to put their nose in his business.

"It's open."

His aunt's head poked in through the door-frame. Her sweaty face was proof enough that Vernon had forced her to bring whatever message she had.

"Hello Aunt Petunia. What can I do for you?"

If someone had told him a year ago that he would spontaneously propose his help to that woman for another motive that his own survival, he would have laughed. Since then, his mere voice was sufficient to make her shiver in fear and he had taken a liking to that small sparkle in her eyes. Laughing was still on his list, just not for the same reason.

"We are receiving guests tonight, who are extremely important for your uncle. Vernon's asking you to be silent and stay in your room for the night. I'll bring you dinner at seven thirty."

How perfect, the three of them would be busy and wouldn't even register his disappearance. He just had to wait until seven thirty and… no, in fact he didn't need to.

"Thank you Aunt Petunia, but you don't have to. I've got a small stomachache and I think that eating anything will do more bad than good. I'll just skip dinner tonight."

"As you wish." said sternly the woman, exiting the room and closing the door behind her.

Now _that_ was perfect.

Harry contained the smirk that wanted so badly to invade his face and tried to focus on the task at hand.

Inhale…

Exhale…

Inhale…

Exhale…

Inhale…

Exhale…

Inhale…

Harry Potter left this world.

In a nearby bush, a small creature with eyes as big as his head could support gasped loudly.

 _\- DWW -_

The Devourer stretched and groaned.

Finally.

The boy was an interesting fellow and had kept him entertained, but explaining the Shadow to a new Puppet and roaming it freely were two different things.

Briefly checking his gear, he was desolated to confirm what he had seen in the castle. His glyphon, wardus, ringols and amulkan runes had long since dissipated. Those runes where nothing but nodes of energy nexuses and he had stayed away from the Shadow for far to long for them to remain. This new evocation was a blessing of sort, since it had at least assured that his melarch and maskulan runes wouldn't return to nothingness.

The demon blasted an energy sphere at the wall, smirking madly when spectral ice spread around the impact point. His melarch was still empowering him, even though it looked slightly weakened.

He went to the entrance of the room and smiled to the attention of the boy's consciousness he was still feeling, like a lingering thought at the back of his mind.

What the boy had had a hard time coming around was how Shadow was an imprint of sort, merely an echo of the physical world. If that room was now his puppet's, it had once been a storage room for 'toys', whatever those were. The door had stayed open for so long that its image had been reflected in the Shadow, leaving an open path for him to take. Alternating between Shadows and the physical world was a traveling technique used and abused by Devourers and their Puppets since forever.

The demon explored every nook of the house, finding nothing of interest and confirming that no exit were available for him to cross. He returned to the front door and felt his control falling for a split second, just long enough for the boy to take the lead, open the door and slip out discreetly.

Passing the threshold, Harry disappeared once more. The Devourer took over and grinned as he spotted some Shadow Crawlers laying lazily in the distance.

He charged them, yelling his favorite **"Th** **ou** **shal** **t** **perish!"**

He had truly missed that.

 _\- DWW -_

Four days went by, without anything of importance occurring.

Harry lived his ordinary extraordinary life in peace. He studied magic, clenched his teeth with every other proof he got that the magical world was crazy, had bewitching discussions with the Devourer, and let him explore the Shadow for a few hours each day to **"reconquer was is rightfully ours"** or something. He never once saw or heard the small house-elf camping outside his window, which was getting more and more proof that Harry Potter sir was a great wizard – and something else, apparently. Something a little too crazy for him to understand. Maybe, just maybe, Harry Potter could get back to Hogwarts and solve his master's plot.

On that fourth day's evening, Harry was eagerly discussing the origin of Runic Nodes with the Devourer. The demon had encountered a Dimensional Rift earlier in the day, which had provided him with a brand new glyphon upon implosion. The creation of demonic body-armor through the extermination of other ethereal creatures was a fascination concept to the young wizard. Too bad that he had to cut this talk short when someone knocked on his window.

"What the…? Ron?"

 _\- DWW -_

Learning that Harry had received none of the letter they had written, Hermione and him, had truly bothered Ronald Weasley. How was it possible for the magical post to screw up so many times in a row?

But learning that Harry hadn't wrote because he had 'forgotten' was bothering him even more.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was his attitude. His best friend was smiling less than usual, speaking more sharply and acting colder. He even disappeared for hours every other day, without any warning. He was growing more distant and it truly frightened the young Weasley.

He would have to confront him on it, and the sooner the better.

 _\- DWW -_

Lunch at The Burrow was never quiet. Between Mrs. Weasley's shouts, Mr. Weasley's review of the marvelous muggle objects he got to inspect during the day, the twins' newest prank going off, Ginny's shyness expressing itself through her mumbling, Ron's passion for the Chudley Cannons' match on the wireless, or Percy ranting about his Prefect position, there was just no way for Harry to cut himself from the noise.

Well, there was a way, but he couldn't reasonably use the Shadow for this. Evaporating from his seat would be a huge giveaway that something was wrong with him.

Speaking of wrong, Ron was acting weirdly since morning and judging from the look in his eyes, he was about to know why.

"Harry, I want to ask you something."

See? He was right.

"I looked for you earlier – just like that, you know, to talk – but I couldn't find you. Nobody saw you either, so I was wondering..."

"Where I spent my afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"Ron, it's very impolite to question a guest. Harry's a big boy and I'm sure he just needs… space." the Weasley matriarch scolded her youngest son. It was easy to see that she was just as curious as her son, but way to polite to allow herself this comportment.

"It's fine Mrs. Weasley, me being a guest shouldn't be a pretext to act as I please or ignore your family. To answer your question Ron, I was taking a nap next door."

"Aw, poor Harrykins needed his beauty sleep." cooed the twins.

"Something like that. I met a charming girl named Luna a few days ago and we've taken to cloud-watch every once in a while. It's extremely relaxing."

The truth was that Luna Lovegood had met the Devourer before she met Harry. The demon had been exploring the area one day, when a blond girl had suddenly appeared in Shadow and politely asked if he had seen any Nargle passing by. The emotional shock had been so great that Harry had spontaneously took over, appearing on the poor girl. The picture of him pinning down a dreamy-eyed Luna would have sent more than a few fan-girls in murderous rampages, had someone took that picture and print it for those fan-witches that Harry had no idea existed.

The girl had promised not to reveal anything and had shared some stories of her accidental travels in Shadow. After hearing some of them, the Devourer had felt an immense relief knowing that she wasn't after him. Yes, it was _that_ bad.

"Luna? I know her." said happily Ginny. It apparently perked up the young girl, seeing as she hadn't mumbled nor stuttered.

"Isn't she Xenophilius' daughter?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"She is. Good girl, if a little weird." answer her husband.

"She's not weird." defended the young girl, "She's just… well, Luna."

This answer was unexpectedly accurate.

"You're hanging out with a girl?"

"Hermione's a girl too, Ron. Are you saying we should ditch her?"

That took him by surprise.

"No, of course not. But you see, Hermione… well, Hermione's kinda like Ginny so… it's not the same."

"Why?" asked Ginny angrily.

That too.

"Well, you know… you see…"

"No, I don't." she said, glaring at her brother.

"Hermione is not really… girly."

"Brother mine –" started Fred.

"– we're so –" continued George.

"– telling her." they finished in unison.

"And what you're saying, Ron, is that I'm not girly enough either?" asked Ginny, voice as sharp as a blade.

Harry relaxed in his chair as his evening trips were quickly forgotten in favor of Ron's new show, _'How to dig your own grave in seven_ _sentences_ _or less'._

 _\- DWW -_

"Dear Ron, gnagnaga… didn't do anything illegal, let's not tell her for the car… different owl, gnagna… busy with schoolwork, of course… oh. Mom, she wants us to meet in Diagon Alley on Wednesday."

"That fits in nicely. We'll go and get all your things then, too." said enthusiastically Mrs. Weasley.

"Did you really had to red it that way?" asked Harry, pointing at Hermione's letter.

"What way?"

Ginny smacked him on the head.

"Moron."

"Too true." beamed Fred, walking in with a broom. "You're playing Harry, or is your curfew coming up?"

Basic and pretty stupid teasing. Too bad, now he would have to make him swallow it on the field.

"One eradication coming right up. Don't cry to mommy afterward."

 _\- DWW -_

That Floo powder was evil.

Even the sensation of having the Devourer gobble up souls wasn't as unpleasant as what he felt when using this stuff.

Besides, it had merely required one word – One. Freaking. Word. – for him to be sent to hell knows where. One thing was certain, it was definitely not Diagon Alley. Oh, and his glasses were now shards on the floor.

Harry was almost embracing the idea of seeking the demon on the Floo's inventor, assuming that the guy's ghost was lingering around on this plane.

But for now, he had to get the hell out of this place. The whole room was packed with evil-looking stuff and even the Devourer was getting a bad vibration from some of the artifacts.

Harry tried to make a bee-line to the door but had to rethink this through when a familiar boy entered the shop, preceded by what was certainly his father.

Well, hello Mr. Malfoy.

Harry could have stepped into Shadow to avoid detection, but it would have prevented him from interacting with the external world and he would have been stuck in there. He instead choose to hide in an old and large black cabinet he spotted nearby. Never had he expected the Devourer to make a small hissing sound which sounded weirdly like a content cat who would have just find a catnip-flavored wool.

"What is it?" he asked in a whisper. Getting caught in here because he was talking to himself would have been pretty bad.

" **We recognize the magic in this box. It is similar to a Cenotaph."**

Cenotaph. From what the Devourer had explained to Harry, they were demonic portals allowing both an immediate regeneration and an instant travel over a large network of similar structures.

"You're sure?"

" **Are you doubting my words, boy?"**

"That's not what I meant. Can we use it to leave this place?"

The demon seemed to think over an answer for a moment.

" **The box is broken, yet I should manage to use it."**

"I sense a 'but' coming."

" **But I have no other anchoring point in this world. We could travel to limbos, but would have to return here."**

No reason to do so, then. With no other options, Harry settled to wait for the two blond to finish whatever business they had in the dark shop.

 _\- DWW -_

"Harry!"

He was about to answer with "Hi Hermione.", but she cut him off.

"What happened to your glasses? Oh, and hello Hagrid. It's really wonderful to see you two again. Wait, I've got to go to Gringotts, you're coming Harry? You must absolutely met my parents, they're already inside."

Damn, he had forgotten how much she could talk.

The Weasleys had the great idea of coming at this exact moment. Seeing her other friend cut the young witch short in her rant and redirecting it to the redhead family.

Harry casually talked to Hagrid, as the others were being buried under a barrage of words. It lasted for a few minutes before Mrs. Weasley walked up to him and tried to strangle him affectionately. Could she be a pain too.

The half-giant said his farewell and went his way, leaving the family and friends to their purchasing-frenzy, which took the most part of the day.

Ice-creams and window-shopping weren't Harry's definition of a good time, or at least, not anymore. With the things on his mind, he just couldn't take the time for a good time. Still, he talked with Ron and Hermione – mostly Hermione – about the rights and wrongs of the Wizardry society, much to Ron's annoyance. He got a good laugh out of it with every little spike the Devourer was sending to peoples and the Wizardry World as a whole. If even a demon could see how wrong this world was, one had to wonder how it could still be standing. In the end, with the exclusion of the encounter with the **"Foolish little human!"** during their visit to Flourish and Blotts, Harry had a reasonably good day.

The return to The Burrow through Floo powder was just terrible, but he managed to calm his nerves by letting the Devourer out, which promptly hunted some weak Shadow creatures in the vicinity. Killing things was a sure way to exorcise your demons, with the exception of the one you were sharing your soul with.

A few more days passed by and soon enough, it was time to move back to Hogwarts.

 _\- DWW -_

The trip to King's Cross Station was done in the family car, enhanced to the brim with magical enchantments. Harry had no idea how the family could truly believe that the thing had been engineered by muggles. It was pretty obvious that it had gotten between the way-too-eager hands of the family patriarch, no?

The kids crossed the barrier without any problem, none of them seeing the small house-elf disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Dobby had decided to let things play out. Harry Potter sir was strong, crazy, could disappear at will and somehow escape even his enhanced senses. He would be fine on his own, Dobby was sure of it.


	3. 03 - Whispers

Harry's second year was beginning nicely.

The studies he had done during the holidays were helping him claiming the top spot in almost every subject, the few others being dominated by Hermione. Ron was a little disappointed to see Harry's success, especially since he was basically abandoning him every evening to raid the library with the witch. Harry, for his part, was a little sad too. He had gained a friend in Luna, and was slowly growing closer to Hermione, but drifting away from Ron in the process. He didn't particularly wanted to distance himself from his first true friend, but the knowledge of having to bring Voldemort to justice was forcing him to get better. For the same reason, he was keeping up with his excursions in Shadows, which had been approved by the Headmaster. The old wizard knew that in his new position, Harry – and the Devourer – had no choice but to fight.

Studies and hunts aside, he had thrown the castle's ghosts in an uproar by his mere presence, gained unwanted attention from Lockart – which he was positive was a freaking fraud – and received countless praises from a little first year who claimed to be his biggest fan – but which was refereed to as **"minion"** by the Devourer.

As of today, it had been just as perfect. Malfoy Junior had been as big a git as he remembered, and Oliver Wood just as much a Quidditch slaver. Those last two points he had witnessed first hand, when he had been awoken by an overjoyed Oliver which had dragged him to the pitch. The Slytherin team had then invaded the field and the blond had immediately boasted about the new brooms – gift of daddy dearest – and his new seeker position. Being slightly sleep-deprived, Harry had silently contemplated punching Draco in the throat. Then the fool had to insult Hermione, and Harry had done so. Feeling the blond git's larynx caving in had put a smirk worthy of the Devourer on his face. The demon had even laughed in appreciation.

Said demon was now undergoing his late night patrol around the school to bust open the new Dimensional Rifts opening sporadically. He was actively dismembering a Crawler when a hissing sound reached him.

 _[Shaaasanea… Senaeth…]_

It had sounded like a language of sort. Strange, since there weren't any other Devourers around – to his knowledge – and no other demons were capable of intelligible speech. But if The Nightmare – Harry snickered at Luna Lovegood's nickname – could enter Shadow, it was normal to assume that others could too.

The boy was now asking him to figure out where the sound had been coming from. Taking the kind request to heart – if he had any –, the Devourer followed the voice. He ended in front of a wall section which the Shadow's lights were clearly identifying as a secret entrance.

With no way to open it from Shadow and no desire from Harry to be found here in the middle of the night, the Devourer returned to the Gryffindor common room. He gave up control to his Puppet, which promptly went through his trunk to grab the castle map he had took to draw a few days prior. The new secret passage was added and circled in red, before being joined by a question mark and a silent vow from the Devourer to discover what was hiding there.

The day had been eventful, but with Malfoy in the infirmary and this unknown soul running around, this year was getting better by the day. Harry went to bed and fell asleep immediately.

 _\- DWW -_

The late Quidditch training had just ended and Harry was returning to his room, munching on his thoughts all the way.

Halloween was growing closer and given the experience he had last year on that exact same date, the young wizard was dreading it.

With an unknown entity roaming the Shadow, he had wanted to take his researches up a notch in the hope that he would find it before it found them. But so far, he had nothing. The hisses hadn't been heard again, and neither the Devourer nor Harry had discovered any way to open that damn passageway. Worst, he had located several other entrances spread across the castle, probably linked and just as hermetic as this one.

Harry wasn't the only preoccupied person around. Well, he was a Puppet so 'person' wasn't exactly appropriate. Thinking about it, neither was it for this other pers… you know what, nevermind.

Nearly Headless Nick, the official Gryffindor ghost which had been pretty absent lately – how come? – was muttering under his breath in front of a window.

"Hello, Nick."

The ghost jumped, though Harry didn't know if he had been startled or had just recognized his voice.

"He… Hello M. Po… Potter." said Nick, facing the young wizard.

Since when was Nick a stuttering ghost?

"You're not making a Professor Quirell on me, are you?"

A hurried "No, of course not." left Harry smirking. It sent a shiver down the ghost's spine, which was weird since it wasn't supposed to be possible. According to his face, he had been so preoccupied that he hadn't detected Harry and run to the other side of the castle, like every other ghosts around here had taken a liking to do. Running away from him was almost a national sport at this stage.

"You look troubled."

"Ah… it's… a matter of no importance. You don't have to bother yourself with me."

Those last words were whispered. Was the ghost really that afraid of him?

Harry sighed. He had to admit that he had found it funny at first, but seeing such tension in one's eyes was enough to make him backstep. He had to do something.

"Nick, you know what I am, right?"

A meek "Yes." escaped the ghost's lips.

"Good. Now, I can understand that you fear for your life, but I assure you that you have nothing to worry about. I know that the Devourer's supposed to be dominant, but it's not the case here."

Nick lifted his head a little. Had he heard properly?

"Headmaster Dumbledore provided a mean for me to stay in control at all time. You don't have to fear the Devourer, because I won't let him hurt you. Do you understand?"

"Is… is it true?"

" **Unfortunately, that is correct."**

The Devourer voice threw Nick for a loop as he began to float around the hall, screaming. He hadn't even registered that the demon had just validate Harry's statement. It took the boy several minutes to calm the ghost, and several more to advise him to seek the headmaster, which would be able to clarify his situation.

"Well, be sure that I will. I'm starting to miss my tower, and running away from you was cutting down my free time drastically."

"I can imagine. By the way, what was that thing troubling you earlier?"

"Oh, really nothing."

Harry threw him a pointed look. The ghost had the decency to look ashamed.

"It's just… the Headless Hunt refused my candidature." said Nick, angrily fanning himself with a letter. "For a mere sinew and a miserable half an inch of skin."

"But your skin's made of ectoplasm, right?"

"Indeed, why?"

"Don't you think I could just … cut it properly for you?"

Nick froze on the spot, face even more ghastly than usual.

"But, that would be…"

The idea of having his neck cut once more, by a demonic blade to boot, wasn't to his taste.

Harry hurried to apologize.

"Nick, I… I just wanted to help. You don't have to accept or anything."

The ghost retrieved his usual colors and smiled at him.

"No, it's perfectly fine. I appreciate the feeling, Mister Potter, but I'm not that desperate to join the Hunt."

Harry smiled back.

And then…

"Meow."

Oh god, why?

 _\- DWW -_

Mrs Norris just had to patrol this exact same corridor and with Filch catching him almost immediately, Harry wasn't even able to escape in Shadow.

In the end, he had barely avoided the terrible punishment bestowed upon those who dragged mud in the castle thanks to Nick's – and apparently, Peeves' – intervention.

Those events had also allowed him to learn something more about the irascible janitor – The guy was a Squib. It was forcing respect when one knew the amount of work he had in the castle. – and locate a new vanishing cabinet. Sure, the thing was in pieces and no sane wizard would willingly try, or even consider using it given the inherent danger of flawed enchantment-fields. The Devourer had just shrugged, assuring that he was just as capable of using it as he was of properly beheading Nick with his eyes closed. Harry trusted him on that.

Harry had also been invited to ~

"A deathday party?" chirped happily Hermione.

"Yep."

"I don't think many persons can say they've seen one. It'll be fascinating."

"Why would anyone want to celebrate their death?" asked Ron.

Harry swallowed his sadness. "To remember that we used to be alive." was on the tip of his tongue.

 _\- DWW -_

Nick's deathday had been better than expected.

The best moment had been when Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, leader of the Headless Hunt, had come to crash the party. The ghost had begun to boast and taunt Sir Nicholas, and then his eyes had fell on Harry. Having apparently been left in the dark on the whole 'Potter has tamed the Devourer' thing, the whole Hunt had run straight through the wall, leaving Sir Patrick's mount behind.

Nearly Headless or not, Sir Nicholas would mount the undead stallion for the night and consoled himself with the look of pure fright he had witnessed on Sir Patrick's face. For that, he had thanked Harry before discreetly promising to the boy that he, too, would be there for his own deathday. Harry had wanted to cry, but decided that a weak smile was more appropriate.

It was on that heartbreaking note that the three living friend – more like two and a half – had left the party.

After the banquet of rotting food, Harry and Hermione weren't in such a hurry to eat. Ron, for his part, was determined to grab a little something from the proper Halloween celebration before going to bed.

That's when things had started to get weird.

 _[Rip… tear them apart...]_

Of course, Halloween night. He hadn't made enough progress on his side, so the thing had decided to come and say hi.

 _[Hungry… I'll kill them… I'll eat them…]_

What really bothered Harry was that he was undoubtedly hearing hisses, and yet could understand every single word of it. He had believed the thing to be a creature from the Shadow, but this sudden comprehensibility proved that it wasn't the case. What could be that thing?

Hermione had the kindness of taking him out of his reveries by catching his shoulder, shaking it as she would have whipped-cream, yelling all the while to see if he was okay.

He had just as kindly asked her to "Shut up.", before following the ominous and apparently murder-prone voice to the upper floor. There, they had come face to face with a motionless Mrs. Norris and a good old-fashioned threat-letter wrote with several gallons of blood, just before being busted by the entirety of the school, students and staff alike.

"Well, F# %!"

"Language, Harry."

"Seriously, Hermione? That's what you're concerned about?"

 _\- DWW -_

Harry Potter was tired.

Explaining to the Headmaster, Snape and M. Shampoo that he just had the Worst. Luck. Ever. had taken forever. He had then suffered a second questioning about his weird behavior from Ron and Hermione, followed by a scolding from the witch. Apparently, he wasn't supposed to follow weird deadly voices around. Swearing wasn't authorized either, especially not toward a girl.

But the hard part was coming now, as upon leaving Lockhart's office, Dumbledore had sent him a meaningful look. It basically meant that he had to discreetly go to the headmaster's office in the middle of the night in order to explain what _really_ happened in that corridor.

Wishing that he could have stayed in bed, the young wizard got up as silently as possible. As he had stay dressed to avoid the difficult task of putting on a trouser in the dark, he slyly went back to the common room entrance and watched it open in a swift motion. The boy's presence vanished and the Devourer replaced him.

Five minutes later, the demon had reached the gargoyle guarding the now well-known staircase. Thankfully, magic had enough impact in Shadow for him to open this access.

" **Lemon Drop."**

The statue moved, the demon trying his best to look as dignified as ever. If the Daughter of Fire had heard him say those words, she would have laughed at him for the next century.

As agreed, he didn't stopped at the office, instead going straight to the man's personal study. There, the boy would return and use a small silver bell, enchanted to be heard only by the Headmaster. It had the benefit of alerting the man that he wasn't alone anymore, and was a rather nice invitation to ditch whoever or whatever he was using his time for at the moment.

Harry appeared in the small room, surrounded on all side by piles of books and weird devices. He took the bell and gave it a few swings, before sinking down in a nearby chair. He had just felt his head touch the padding when the door opened and a worried old wizard entered.

"Harry, my boy, we need to talk."

The young boy sighed and yawned at the same time.

He should have stayed in his bed.

 _\- DWW -_

"So you heard that hissing both in and out of Shadow, but only understand them as yourself? That is quite peculiar."

Harry gave a weak nod. It probably was, but he was way too sleepy to care.

"And you said it was in the walls?"

"Sure sounded like it."

The headmaster seemed to ponder something for a few seconds.

"Those secret passageways you mentioned, I'd like you to guide me to them."

"I'll give you the plan."

"That will help, but I have to insist. Your presence is essential."

"Fine. Do you think that we can open them?"

The wizard smiled.

"Well, I may have an idea or two."

Harry suddenly had the unpleasant sensation that the headmaster was withholding information again.

"But we shall see about that later. It is getting late and we both need some sleep." said the man, rising from his seat.

He opened the door and smiled warmly.

"Thank you for you time, Harry. Have a good night."

It sounded awfully like a bad excuse mixed with a harsh dismissal. Harry wasn't in the mood to rack his brain on the matter and decided to let it go. He nodded and let the Devourer take over.

 _\- DWW -_

Days passed and the school got more suffocating with each passing second.

The students' chitchats were fully focused on that rumored Chamber of Secret and everything pointed to Harry Potter being that just as rumored Heir of Slytherin. Well, he wasn't a Slytherin but he had been found on the scene of the crime with his two accomplices and had grown somewhat distant this year. It had to be him, right?

Harry, for his part, was still tired and more than a little annoyed. The others kids were giving him stares all day long, along with a few professors and the caretaker. The history lesson turning into a thriller story hadn't helped in this matter, since it had spread the tale of the Chamber school-wide, which had resulted in them believing him capable of using dark magic and controlling a deadly monster at will. The stares' intensity had doubled and Harry had begun to feel extremely weary.

Concerning the 'annoyed' part, it was partly due to the headmaster's apparent inactivity in the matter. He had came by a few days ago to retrieve the map, making no comments on those ideas of his. Harry had no clue on what was roaming the school, nor how to access its lair, and that damn headmaster was only offering dead air since then.

Speaking of offering, Hermione had that crazy idea that using Polyjuice to masquerade as Slytherins would help them get statements from Malfoy that _he_ was the heir. It would require several ingredients thefts from the Potion classroom, along with the use of proper genetic materials which would be a bother to gather. Assuming that they succeeded in brewing it, they would then be stuck as Slytherins for several hours, wearing forms with no proper personality or memories to make it credible, nor even the password for the snakes' common room.

Harry had agreed to help, just not in the way Hermione had hoped for. Instead, he had just explained rationally how stupid that plan was, why they couldn't rely on luck so much, and why Malfoy was just too stupid to be this heir of Slytherin. His arguments had surprisingly worked and the Polyjuice option had been swept under the metaphoric rag.

Then had come the Quidditch match, which had been a flawless victory. No wonder, after Oliver had the Gryffindor team train in anything but appropriate weather conditions. The heavy rain was nothing more than a drizzle for them.

That night, the Gryffindor partied. Hard.

That is, until McGonagall entered the common room and announced the news. Colin Creevey, Harry Potter's biggest fan and resident photograph, had sneaked out during the festivities. He had later been found in a staircase, petrified.

The Devourer had merely said **"We will find other minions."**

Strangely, that comment hadn't eased Harry one bit.


	4. 04 - Last Straw

Days had passed and the school's atmosphere hadn't changed a bit. In fact, it had gotten worst.

People kept ogling Harry weirdly, not bothering with the manifest fact that he couldn't have attacked Colin, being way too busy celebrating during the assault. They where just assuming that he had used his Quidditch match as an alibi before unleashing whatever beast he was controlling on the boy.

He had then partake in Snape and M. Shampoo's duel club, looking for a way to put his mind into something else. It hadn't worked, since he had rediscovered mid-session that he could speak to snakes, the zoo event replaying in his mind. Once again, people had seen what they wanted to see, focusing solely on his parseltongue and completely dismissing Malfoy's cheating. Most where even accusing him of pushing the snake to attack Justin Finch-Fletchley, when he had on the contrary calmed it down a few pegs – a fact that he was really beginning to regret.

His linguistic ability had reinforced the ongoing rumors and started his personal favorite, the one stating that 'Potter is a Dark Lord since birth'.

He hadn't even bothered with apologizing to Justin. He would have just rebuffed him in fright and Harry would have been seen as a stalker and nothing short of a tormentor. The Devourer had helpfully added that he would have never approved of **"** **such pathetic kindness** **"** from his Puppet. In fact, he rather expected him to **"dominate** **the filth** **fiercely."**

Given those circumstances, and vetoing the Devourer's ideas, Harry decided to act as he had for most of the year. He would live his life day by day, away from prying eyes, without a care in the world about the rumors and nasty talks.

If Hermione and Luna where still openly supporting him, it seemed that Ron was having second thoughts about their friendship. The redhead had begun to actively avoid him, which he was doing with surprisingly efficiency considering they lived in a shared room. Was Harry's emotional response – or rather, lack of response – just the last straw for him?

Now, if only he could have one single class without any interruption, it would be great.

 _\- DWW -_

Transfiguration that day was pretty much the same as usual, if you excluded the handshakes and congratulations coming from the Slytherins. One – Draco, he suspected – had even sent a deadpool containing every single muggleborn in the school, associated with prize money if he was to get rid of them. Harry had found the mere idea sickening, but the Devourer in the back of his soul had shared a feeling looking disturbingly like nostalgia. The wizard hadn't asked anything, deciding that he was better off not knowing why the demon was feeling homesick at the though of hunting humans for money.

And then, it had happened. An ear-piercing scream had rose from the hallway and in less than three seconds, the whole class was confronted with the vision of a trembling Ravenclaw first year. In front of her, perfectly still, were laying Justin and a smoky Sir Nicholas.

As if it hadn't been enough, Peeves choose that exact moment to yell that nobody was safe from Harry, living or dead. In those few words, he made sure that every student would have nightmares those upcoming nights, and would resent the Gryffindor for that.

Through much efforts, McGonagall barely managed to establish a semblance of order, until she received orders from a smug-looking Filch. Albus Dumbledore had sent him straight off when he had been warned about the new attack. He was requesting for Harry Potter to be sent to his office immediately in order to talk about this new development.

Of course, Filch just had to explain it while smiling insanely, probably thinking that Harry would be expelled, taken into custody, or even sent to Azkaban.

While the hall spiraled into another riot, most of his peers calling Harry bird names and asking for his head, the young wizard was the epitome of calm. At least on surface.

In fact, he was boiling internally.

The headmaster definitely knew more than he was letting on about this whole Chamber business, and had purposely ignored him for days. Now that things were getting out of control, he had asked for help in the worst possible way, accidentally confirming every gossips. He had put Harry in the line of fire, like he would have with a target dummy, making him into the public enemy number one.

How would he get out of this one?

 _\- DWW -_

Leaving behind his classmates which were far past his 'I'm not giving a damn about you anymore' point, Harry mechanically followed McGonagall to Dumbledore's office. So mechanically in fact, that he blurred out the password to the gargoyle before she could, earning himself a surprised stare.

Harry shrugged and didn't bothered with an explanation, preceding the witch in the staircase. Entering the headmaster's office, he came upon the friendly figure of the old wizard, smiling from behind his desk.

"Ha, Harry. Thank you for coming."

Saluting oneself when initiating a conversation was one of the most wildly known and respected convention in the world.

The young wizard decided to screw convention.

 _\- DWW -_

Minerva McGonagall was going through the weirdest student/headmaster meeting of her life.

First, the boy had known the password for the staircase, usually only communicated to the staff.

And now, he had just entered in the office as if owning it.

"Why did you sent Filch?" he spatted, "You know the guy has a grudge against me."

"You're overreacting, my boy."

"Stop belittling me. I already have the whole school on my back, don't act like a fool and make it even harder."

Minerva was dumbstruck and probably looking like she had just swallowed a sour lemon. She was tempted to reprimand the boy, but seeing Albus' face lightening up after such a strange interaction was piquing her curiosity. She choose to remain silent and see where it would go.

"Of course, Harry. I hope you will pardon the sudden convocation, but that new attack confirmed my suspicions and I fear that our window of action is closing fast."

Wait, so Albus and Potter were working together somehow? When had that happened?

"And whose fault is that? I'm pretty sure you know exactly what's attacking, and let me remind you that we know how to reach it. If you hadn't forbade me to open those passageways, that thing would already be history."

Her mentor had such information at his disposal and had chosen to discuss it with a second year student rather than his own staff? The children's safety was at risk, how could he have been so irresponsible?

"You're right, I'm entirely at fault. But it is of the utmost importance that we wait."

Had he truly lost it? They had to track down that abomination immediately.

"Why not hunt it tonight? The others will either be asleep or planning coups against me."

"I'm sorry, but it won't do. There are just too many unknown parameters to consider, the fight could escalate and be brought to the surface. The entrance next to the Slytherin's common room is too much of a hazard by itself, and you know that others open all around the castle. I can't risk it."

Oh, so he had been thinking about the students after all.

"Can't we just keep them closed?" replied Potter. "If those doors do open with parselmagic, I should be able to seal them shut, right?"

"I… hadn't consider that. It is true that parselmagic has many uses and you should, in theory, be able to seal the doors with a password. That is, assuming that the heir hasn't already do so and won't manage to force them open. I will have to do some researches on that matter."

And now, Minerva felt ashamed.

She had too admit that like the others, she had had some doubts about her pupil being that rumored 'Heir of Slytherin'. Between the parseltongue and the series of strange coincidences, Harry Potter had been the perfect suspect. What the whole school had forgotten was that suspects were innocent until proven guilty.

If what she was hearing was true, the boy was not only innocent but had been actively working on taking down the real attacker with Albus. Her cub had been shunned on all side for nothing but, for the sake of this undertaking, had taken upon himself to endure it.

The shame melted away, slowly replaced by pride.

"Still, I have to refuse once more. We shall act during the Christmas holidays, Harry, and not sooner."

"Why postponing? That will just leave it enough time to attack."

"When we do fight it, I want the school as empty of students as possible. Besides, it will give me enough time to do some more digging. Many things could go wrong and I want us properly prepared. The other children are under my responsibility, but so are you."

"I'm pretty sure that I can take care of myself."

"Not this time, Harry."

Never before had Minerva heard her mentor use such a sad voice.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy, sounding suddenly worried.

Wait, had Albus just sighed?

"You were right, Harry, I know what beast lay under the school. It is just the most deadly, magical and venomous snake Salazar Slytherin could have chosen as a pet. The monster is a Basilisk, also called the King of Serpents."

"A BASILISK?"

"Indeed, Minerva. Probably a really old one, at that. By the way, I'm truly surprised. I'd thought you would have intervened earlier."

"Now's not the time Albus, you know what a basilisk can do."

"I do. What about you, Harry? Do you know what happen to who looks into a Basilisk's eyes?"

"I'd say… paralysis."

"Sadly, you are wrong. Shall one meet the King's stare, that one shall suffer instant death."

"But then, what about Nick and the others?"

"Concerning Nick, you simply can't kill what's already dead without some _singulars_ means."

She was pretty sure that a word had just been emphasized. Why, she had no idea.

"As for the students and Argus' cat, I believe that we were lucky. The monster's gaze must have been obstructed somehow and the victims didn't felt its full potency."

"That was most certainly providential, but we can't rely on luck alone for much longer. A basilisk's roaming the school, for god's sake. This has to stop, Albus."

"And it will, Minerva. In due time."

If she hadn't been shaken up enough, that surely would have done the trick. He couldn't be serious, right?

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand my position. I can't take any risk, and I won't. When we take it down, we must take it down for good. In the meantime, instructing the students and staff to never travel alone will provide a semblance of security and lure the heir into thinking we're clueless. Avoiding some areas should help too, but that's about all we can allow ourselves to do."

Silence fell, and it was deafening.

Choosing temporary inaction to assure a more definitive and secured outcome. Was she really prepared to go to such extent to stop this madness?

"Christmas."

"Mister Potter?"

"You have until Christmas to search whatever the hell you want. On December 26th, this basilisk is going down."

"Mister Potter, you can't be seriously considering this idea. What if the beast attacks again? Those are your comrades you are putting at risk."

"I know it all too well, Professor."

How could such a young boy have such dead eyes?

"But the headmaster's right, we can't treat this lightly. If a few more days assure that we come out of this fight in one piece, I'm more than willing to wait some more. But you can rest assured. If the snake does attack, it will become a matter of life and death. Should the worst happen, I'll take matters into my own hands and act accordingly. Do we understand each other, Headmaster?"

Was her twelve-year old cub really casually talking of fighting by himself an insanely powerful and gigantic magical serpent? While threatening Albus at the same time?

"We sure do, Harry."

And Albus was apparently taking him seriously.

What just happened in this office, she truly had no idea. The only thing she knew for sure was that tonight, she would open her stash of scotch and down a glass or two.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to my dorm. I'm certain to get an earful from Hermione and I wouldn't want to be late for that now, would I?"

"Of course not. Thank you for you time, Harry, you may go. Have a nice evening."

"You too headmaster. Professor."

Aaaand he was gone. The conversation had just went from extremely weird to perfectly banal in a matter a seconds.

Well then, she would probably drink the whole bottle.

 _\- DWW -_

Christmas.

What better day that the most holy day of Christmas?

Also known as Nativity or Yule, Christmas is celebrated all around the world, both as a religious day and a cultural event. It also brings forth its own spirit, usually found in decorated spruces, public illuminations, themed carols, wreaths and mistletoe.

Thad day is one of hope. A day to spread joy around, exchange gifts, and reconnect with your loved ones, be them family, friends, or lovers.

For one Harry James Potter, that day was also the calm before the storm.

Tomorrow, he would enter Hogwart's underground and hunt down a Basilisk, an activity which came with several dangers, including but not limited to flesh wounds, disfigurement by acid, possible dismemberment, body grinding, petrification, severe maiming and ultimately, death.

But hey, he had died before, he could do it again.

Really, it wasn't such a big deal. As long as the Devourer was alive and had souls at his disposal, he could use them to revive Harry. The boy was just a Puppet and if his body looked and acted human, it most definitely wasn't. Since his resurrection, the boy was entirely made of Essence, the soul energy. With enough Essence, any injury could be healed and death was hardly of any importance. Yes, it would hurt like hell. But he would be back in no time, as if he had just been taking a nap.

With that in mind, and the general hostility level towards him higher than ever since his return from that fateful meeting, Harry had decided that he really needed to enjoy the Christmas banquet with his friends.

Across from him, Hermione was explaining the origins of the holiday while cutting down a piece of roasted turkey. To her side, Luna – which had become a familiar sight at the Gryffindor table – was vigorously nodding. Weird, since the girl was a pureblood and had strictly no idea on who was Santa or why singing 'Jingle Bells' was required to enjoy a good Christmas. Harry, amused, was wondering how long it would take for Hermione to notice.

Turning his head to the staff table, Harry met the eyes of his Transfiguration teacher and one Albus Dumbledore.

Despite the battle to come, the headmaster was maintaining a composed figure. One so well crafted, in fact, that it would have fooled anyone. He even smiled weakly to the young wizard. In the end, his unusual silence was the only sign that showed his true discomfort.

Sadly, Minerva McGonagall wasn't as accomplished in the delicate art of staying impassible. She was nervously making small circles with her hands, gazing into space. Her nervousness had been remarked by a good part of her coworkers and most asked her if everything was fine. The nods and smiles she was returning were looking fake from miles away and Harry caught himself thinking that it was a damn miracle that she hadn't lost it yet. With the way she was behaving, he was half expecting her to jump on the table and spill everything on the spot.

Luckily, she didn't.

The banquet ended soon, the remaining students and staff going their separate ways. Wanting to catch some eye-shut in anticipation of the upcoming battle, Harry quickly excused himself from the two girls and returned to his room. He was asleep before even touching his mat.

 _\- DWW -_

The Gryffindor common room was caught in a blissful silence. Boys and girls were sound asleep in their respective rooms and only nocturnal pets were active.

Strangely, one of those pets – so to speak – was a demonic soul-eating being.

" **Boy, it is time."**

Harry Potter opened his eyes.

Two seconds later, his bed was empty.


	5. 05 - Scales

Hermione Granger was running for her life.

Well, not exactly. In fact, she was running for the thing that had become her life: Harry James Potter.

...

No, it wasn't anything like that. Let's be serious guys, she was only thirteen. Love was a stranger to her, and would remain as such for a number of years… probably.

Oh sure, she loved Harry, but only as a friend… mostly

She had always been a lone child, more interested in book than anything else. She thrived from knowledge.

One day, her comfortable little life had been turned upside-down when the magical world had entered her house in the form of one Professor McGonagall.

Her first year in this mystical world had known ups and downs, the lowest of them being on Halloween. Their possessed teacher had let loose a troll in the castle, which she had sadly met. The monster had tried to flattened her with a club and she would have died, had it not been for the intervention of her two first friends, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.

On that day, everything had changed... sort of.

She was still living for knowledge, but that knowledge had found a new purpose. Learn so that she could help her friends in their struggles had became her reason to live.

She was on cordial terms with many, but those friends for whom she would travel to hell and back were few. Among the girls, Luna Lovegood was the only one fitting in that category. And for the boys, with the recent withdrawal of a certain redhead – which was a chicken, but don't tell anyone she'd though that –, the only remaining one was Harry.

And he was gone...

 _\- DWW -_

Minerva McGonagall was comfortably seated in her chair, enjoying a calming draught mixed with her cup of tea. With the night of anxiety she had gone through, she really needed it.

She had stayed awake all night long, fearing for Albus and Harry. She couldn't take her mind away from the fact that they would be out somewhere, fighting a Basilisk of all things, for the sake of the school as a whole. The risks were incredibly high, but so were the awards. In a single night, the fate of Hogwarts was to be played and many lives weighted in the scale.

Hence tea spiked with calming draught.

She was just beginning to feel the effect when someone knocked on her door. Why couldn't she just be left alone with her worries? But she had to maintain the appearance, and that meant receiving decently whoever was there.

"Come in."

A bushy-haired young witch, – and by far her favorite student – entered her office. She looked truly distressed.

"Miss Granger?"

"Professor McGonagall, Harry's missing."

Oh.

"We were supposed to eat breakfast with Luna and when he didn't came, we assumed he was just sleeping in. But then I asked the boys, and they told me that he wasn't in bed when they woke up."

"I see."

What could she say? Albus had explicitly asked her to remain silent on the matter and she couldn't possibly betrayed her mentor.

But half-truths were fine, right?

"I believe that young mister Potter as been called by the headmaster."

"Really? Harry didn't said anything."

According to her voice, she was feeling left out. Damn that boy for fighting the beast, now Minerva was feeling obligated to help him with that. Her cub'd better be thankful when he come back… unharmed, that went without saying.

"That's quite understandable, it was a last minute call."

"I… I see. Do you think the headmaster would let me join them?"

"I'm afraid not, they are discussing a rather personal matter. It is likely to last for quite some time, but your friend should join you by dinner. You have nothing to fear, miss Granger."

The young girl looked disappointed, but Minerva found that better than being worried for her friend's life. Still, she couldn't help but feel unclean after lying to her pupil in such manner.

"Th… thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, miss Granger."

And the girl left, plainly reassured.

The door was just closed when the Transfiguration teacher threw herself back in her seat. She had the sudden intuition that the boy would be a pain in the neck for his whole schooling.

 _\- DWW -_

Diner had come, but neither Albus nor the boy had returned.

And of course, Granger and Lovegood had both come straight at her, asking for updates. Minerva had been forced to lie once more and promise that she would visit the headmaster personally.

But even now, as she was climbing the stairs leading to Albus' office, she had the disagreeable sensation of the girls breathing down her neck.

The professor knocked on the heavy door, receiving no response.

"Albus?" she tried.

But silence returned once more.

"Albus, I'm coming in."

And she did so. The office was devoid of human presence, the only living thing being the recently reborn Fawkes. The happy thrill he released was good news, as he would never have been this blissful if Albus had been in danger or… worse.

On the desk, she caught sight of the familiar device specially enchanted to monitor Harry Potter. She had always dislikes Albus' intrusive nature, but the silver disks' small motion was just as meaningful and reassuring as the song still easing her nerves.

So they where both alive and well. Now she would just have to look for clues and see if she could find where they were and...

"Hello Mini. The boys are in the other room."

"Haaa!"

On a nearby shelf, the Sorting Hat was looking at her. A giant smirk was occupying half his face.

"Something wrong?"

Damn that stupid hat, she had forgotten about it and screamed like a first year. She straightened her robes and tried to look as dignified as possible.

"In the other room, you said? Do you know when they returned from their little… escapade?"

"You can say hunt. I was in the room, you know."

Oh, right.

"To answer your question, they returned around four a.m. And before you ask, the beast's done for the count."

She should have been relieved. The basilisk was dead, Hogwarts was saved.

But all she had heard was ~

"Four a..m.?"

"Yes."

"They've been here all day?"

"Yes."

They've been in a room not ten feet away from a Floo connection, but they hadn't taken two minutes to contact her? And why was the cursed hat still smiling?

"Do you know what they're up to?"

"I do."

A crow flew by the tower.

"Well, won't you tell me?"

"No, it's more funny if you see it."

Albus and Harry had fought a basilisk. Was could be funny in this situation?

"I'm afraid, my old friend ~"

"Haaa!"

"~ that I fail to see that funny part you're mentioning."

"Albus?"

Why were people so fond of startling her today?

"Hello Minerva. How was your day?"

"How was my day?"

"You should hide, Albus." said maliciously the hat.

"HOW WAS MY DAY? I didn't slept, worried sick that I was. You were off with a second year student to hunt a giant basilisk, and I had no way to know if you were hurt, or even alive anymore. Then miss Granger came, just as worried for her friend as I was, and I had to lie to her. I lied to a student Albus, twice. And all along, the two of you were here, doing god knows what. How was my day? Terrible, that's how it was."

"Wow. You were downright scary there, Mini." chirped the sorting hat.

"YOU, SHUT UP!"

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy-Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor and Transfiguration teacher, had just cursed. Yes, she was that irked.

 _\- DWW -_

Albus Dumbledore was thunderstruck. He had never thought he would see the day when Minerva would lost he composure and throw a tantrum.

But he couldn't blame her, she had spoken the truth.

"Minerva, I am truly ashamed of my forgetfulness. Harry needed me here and I may have been a little too dedicated to my task."

"Harry? What happened?"

It looked like her concern was more significant that her anger. That was probably good for him.

"Oh, it is nothing bad."

"No, just ironic." interjected a merry voice.

"What did I said?" Minerva threatened the hat, glaring intensely.

He wisely choose to listen.

"So, what's happening to mister Potter? Is he hurt?"

"Oh, I can assure you he's perfectly fine."

Sort of.

"Then why would he needs you?"

"Well, something… unexpected happened."

The had snorted.

Yeah, laugh it up you old leather.

"When we fought the basilisk, Harry was affected by a… condition. I've spent the entire day trying to find a cure. Thankfully, I should be done in a few days."

"Days? Did you called Pomona or Severus? They might know this illness, perhaps even a remedy."

That would be a sight. Pomona would fainted and Severus… he would probably gather his tools to fetch ingredients.

"I'm afraid to say, Minerva, that they can't. This is a truly exceptional instance and everything needs to be done from scratch. Besides, Harry has expressed the wish to stay here until this predicament is over."

"Well then, can I see mister Potter?"

"I'd prefer if you don't."

"And why, exactly?"

"Given the circumstances, you may react… badly."

"Nonsense, I see no reason to believe that I would ever ~"

As predicted, she had fainted mid-sentence. Albus couldn't tell if it was the human or the cat in her that had made her loose consciousness. Probably both, thinking about it.

After all, seeing a basilisk – which was approaching the body mass of a small pony – coiled lazily on his study's floor had the potential to frighten anything.

 _\- DWW -_

"Hooowww."

 _[The cat-lady is waking up.]_

"Ha, Minerva, you're back."

"A… Albus? What happened?"

"You fainted."

"Obviously. But I… I remember a… a huge snake."

"Well, you did asked to see Harry."

"You mean that mister Potter was… turned into a snake?"

"A juvenile basilisk, to be precise. Worry not, his gaze and venom aren't functional yet."

 _[Hey cat-lady, you want to share a mice?]_

"Haaaaa."

"Harry, could you please not startle Professor McGonagall?

"I didn't, the basilisk did." said mentally the boy, somewhere in the back of the basilisk's mind.

" **Thou knowth he can't hear thou?"** he heard, not far from where he was.

 _[What are the speaker and the loud voice saying?]_

Harry shrugged somehow – which was weird, since he was nothing but a consciousness – and replied in parseltongue.

 _[The Devourer is being annoying, don't worry about it.]_

 _[Fine.]_

"I'll assume that's a yes." deadpanned the headmaster.

"Albus, is this really happening?"

"I'm afraid it is, Minerva."

"But it shouldn't be possible. A child spontaneously becoming an animagus, or an animagus being a magical animal, is unheard of."

Her incomprehension was clearly perceived by the basilisk, even if he couldn't understand it.

"True, but this isn't anything like an animagus transformation."

"But then… how?"

"Well, everything went as planned."

 _\- DWW -_

Not many, be them from the staff or among the students, would have expected a lone child to wander the halls in the middle of the night. Even fewer would have suspected that the headmaster himself had allowed this infraction to the school rules. But none – except from a certain Ravenclaw – would have expected this rogue student to materialize in the middle of the headmaster's private study.

On this December 26th, at midnight, one Harry James Potter had left the warmth and comfort of the Gryffindor dorms. Clothed in dark covering wear, wand in hand, he had then waited for instructions from the man know to wizardkind as Albus Dumbledore.

The old wizard was unrecognizable for anyone unfamiliar with World War II. Gone was the kind and gentle headmaster. In its place stand the supreme warlock, feared by all for his spellwork and admired for having practically ended the magical side of the conflict singlehandedly.

The two allies had a quick meeting, reviewing information about basilisks, parselmagic and a few combat strategies.

When both had found the battle plans adequate, they had gone on an errand around the castle, which whole point had been to magically seal every entrees to the pipes' network. Choosing _[_ _I love muggleborns._ _]_ as password had made it pretty secure against the heir, for if he truly was who they feared, he would rather die than pronounce those words.

Reaching the last of the passageway, the two-man team had entered and sealed everything behind them. Nothing was to come in, and nothing was to come out. They were alone, them and a giant basilisk.

The progression in the pipes had been erratic. Moving slowly and in silence was essential when fighting a beast capable of ending you with a glare, but bones and other organic matters – including sheds portraying quite clearly how big the beast really was – had delayed them even further.

They finally reached yet another stone door, quite similar to the hidden passageways they had closed earlier. The difference here was the three-dimensional carving of emerald-eyed serpents whose bodies intertwined in a complex pattern.

Entering a chamber barely larger than the pipe – Seriously, who choose [Open.] as a password? It was as bad as 1234. – , the two wizard were introduced to the weird ornamentation tastes of Salazar Slytherin – which were as bad as his choice in pet.

The man had disposed dozens of snakes in rows, carved from some dark stone, on either way of the path. At the end of it, the tunnel was ending in a huge cavern and what was undoubtedly a perfect thirty-foot tall stone impression of the Founder. – See? Bad tastes.

The Chamber of Secret was no longer a myth.

Sadly, the monster rumored to be lurking in said chamber was just as real. It had probably heard them because as soon as Harry and Albus had set foot in the tunnel, the beast had lifted itself from the coiled position it had been sleeping in. The two wizards barely had enough time to hide behind the carves stone serpents before the living one turned it's head around.

Deadly glare avoided but basilisk on the hunt, the two wizard had enacted the appropriate plan. Dumbledore had blinded himself with a loin of cloth, counting on detection spells to guide him, while Harry had left the Devourer in control, the Shadow aspect of the snake being apparently devoid of deadly eyes. With the beast being both in and out of Shadow at the same time – something that had been quite common in the Heretic Kingdoms –, the headmaster would get to hurt him physically, while the demon would target his inner-self. As powerful as he could be, the King of Serpent couldn't possibly be prepared to focus on two fights at once, on two different dimensions.

It wasn't, the fight ended in mere minutes.

 _\- DWW -_

"That is, until the fight ended."

 _\- DWW -_

The beast was finally dead, it's soul on the way to the afterlife.

But the Devourer was seeing it differently. When the old wizard had summoned him to help the boy, the Devourer had been forced into the very same pact that all those years ago. He was free to collect souls, to feed on them endlessly… free to gather as many Puppets as he desired.

Lashing forward, the demon got a hold on the Essence of the creature. In a swift motion, he swallowed it hungrily and added it to his collection. In the end, it all took less than three seconds.

In the back of the soul-mix that was the Devourer, Harry slowly processed what had just happened. The demon had acted before he could do anything and of all things, added the basilisk to their little community. Something went of in him, and he saw red. He forced the Devourer away and went back to being him, determined to make a point.

But he never had the time to chew out the demon. Joining the material world, he appeared directly in a pool of venom. The powerful acid ate at his body in seconds and for the second time in as many years, Harry Potter died.

 _\- DWW -_

"What happened then?"

"Harry was brushed by venom. It reacted… badly."

"The venom turned Harry into a basilisk?"

"It did. Though how, I have no idea. I think it may be an unknown perk of being a parselmouth."

"It isn't." yelled the boy in the back of the basilisk's mind, "It's the fault of that damn Devourer. And you won't believe how complicated it is to explain demons and undead to a snake."

 _\- DWW -_

She was cold. Or rather, she had been cold… and yet, she wasn't. What a weird feeling.

Weirder, were those voices.

" **Are thou feeling better, boy?"**

"Yes."

" **Thou shouldn't have taken over. Thou hast cost us much Essence."**

"AND YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT. I have enough problems with you, I can't deal with every soul going around."

" **Thou shouldn't be surprised. I am a Devourer, that is what I do."**

What were they saying? She couldn't understand. Maybe they would understand her?

 _[What are you?]_

"Oh boy, it can talk."

" **Then thou should talk to it."**

"Of course, it'd be my pleasure. Oh, and remind me later to explain what's sarcasm."

They couldn't?

 _[Hello.]_

Oh, they could.

 _[Hello, voice. What are you?]_

 _[My name is Harry. I'm a wizard.]_

 _[Wizard are humans, right?]_

 _[Yes.]_

 _[Then you are a speaker, like my master and his heir.]_

That was wonderful. She had never met another speaker before.

 _[I see an old human waving his appendices around. Are you him?]_

 _[No, but he is a friend of mine. You mustn't attack him.]_

 _[Oh. Fine then, I won't.]_

 _[Thank you. Do you know where you are?]_

 _[Yes, that is my chamber. What about you?]_

She could hear the speaker, but she couldn't see him or find his smell anywhere. That was strange.

 _[I'll tell you. But first, I'd like you to tell me what you remember of the moments before you started to hear me.]_

 _[I was sleeping.]_

 _[… and? That's it?]_

 _[No, but I'm not sure. I think that food entered in the chamber and I tried to eat it, but it hurt me. After that, I was cold, then not anymore. Then I heard you and the loud voice.]_

 _[I see.]_

 _[Is it a speaker too?]_

 _[No, it isn't. That voice is… well, it is a demon.]_

 _[What is a demon?]_

"Oh god, it doesn't know anything about demons."

" **What?"**

"It's clueless about demons. How the hell am I going to explain now?"

" **What about ghosts? It met one before, right? Thou could use this."**

"I suppose I can start from there."

Why were the speaker talking with the loud voice? Was he asking it her question?

 _[Do you know what is a ghost?]_

 _[Ghost?]_

 _[You saw one a few days ago, Sir Nicholas. Tall, white, floating above the ground. Sounds familiar?]_

 _[The white human, I remember him.]_

His face had been funny.

 _[Sir Nick was a ghost.]_

 _[Wasn't he a human?]_

He had looked human, to her.

 _[He was, long ago. Then he died and became a ghost. Ghosts are spirits, souls without a body. Do you understand?]_

 _[I think.]_

It was complicated.

 _[Well, demons are another sort of souls.]_

 _[They are dead too?]_

 _[Not exactly, but they live in the afterlife, where the dead go. There, the Devourer is the King of Demons, just like you are the King of Serpents.]_

How could the loud voice live with the dead? And it was a king? Was it here to challenge her?

 _[I am a Queen.]_

"Oh…"

" **What is it, boy?"**

"The snake's a girl."

" **And?"**

"A third of your soul is of a different gender, and you don't care? You're sure you don't want to see a shrink?"

" **I'm used to it."**

"Oh right, you were with that Daughter of Fire."

 _[What is happening?]_

 _[Nothing, I was just surprised that you're a female, so I let the Devourer know. You have my apologies for assuming that you were a male.]_

 _[I suppose it is fine, you couldn't have known. What did the loud voice said?]_

 _[Not much. I think he doesn't care. He may have saved you but other that that, he's not really implicated.]_

 _[Saved me? I do not need saving.]_

 _[Oh, you did. That coldness you felt, it was death.]_

What nonsense was that? She couldn't be dead.

 _[You are lying. I can't be killed.]_

 _[But you can. I killed you.]_

 _[WHAT DID YOU SAID?]_

 _[I'm sorry, but you were attacking children. You left me no choice.]_

What children? She hadn't hurt any child. She would never do anything like that.

 _[Something happened to the infants?]_

 _[Don't play dumb, your master's heir has made you paralyze students all around school. I had to stop you.]_

 _[But, finding guilty child is the heir's duty, just like stopping them is mine.]_

 _[Duty? The heir has no duty, he just wants to kill whoever he sees fit. As for you, you're nothing but a weapon. You would have killed them all, had your stare not been blocked.]_

A weapon? No, her master had always wanted her to be a guardian. And his heir had… used her?

 _[It wasn't blocked, it was controlled.]_

 _[The paralysis was wanted?]_

 _[It was.]_

 _[How did you do that? You shouldn't be able to control this ability.]_

 _[My master taught me. He wanted to be sure that I would never hurt any human while doing my duty. ]_

 _[Duty?]_

 _[I am to prevent children from performing criminal actions by restraining them until faculty members can take appropriate actions.]_

 _[But they were innocent, they never did anything. And I'm fairly sure that I heard you say you would tear them apart, kill them, and eat them.]_

 _[No, it can't be. I'm the school's protector, I never would have...]_

Wait, something wasn't right. Hadn't the speaker said that he had killed her? Not that she was resenting him for that, he had apparently acted for the school, like she was supposed to. But if he had killed her, why was she in her chamber with a still waving old human?

 _[You said that you killed me, speaker?]_

 _[I did.]_

 _[Then why am I in my chamber?]_

 _[Because you're not dead. Not anymore.]_

How was that possible? Was she a… ghost, or maybe a demon now?

 _[You died and the Devourer swallowed you. He revived you, rejuvenated you and offered you another chance.]_

Rejuvenated? So she was younger now, she had been wondering why she was felling smaller.

 _[Then, I'm alive?]_

 _[You're not really alive, but not exactly dead either. You're a Puppet, which means that your soul is linked to his. When he gets out, you're dead, but when you're in control, you're 100% alive.]_

Was she understanding properly? She wasn't herself anymore? That sounded complicated and just… wrong.

 _[And regarding where I am, know that I'm somewhere in you. You should find me if you focus on my voice long enough.]_

He was… in her? But then...

 _[You are like me.]_

 _[I am. I was killed last year, and the Devourer brought me back. The two of us have been together as one since then.]_

And now, she had joined them. The loud voice and the speaker were a part of her, just like she was a part of them.

 _[How can you live with someone else in you?]_

 _[I don't know, I guess you just do. Beside, it's not that bad. When you're in control, you can live normally, plus the voices can make a good distraction, and when you're behind, you can relax and enjoy the ride.]_

 _[I see… And when will you or the loud voice take control?]_

 _[Well, I'm the one in charge of the rotations, and to be honest I would already have switched had it not be for something, probably your venom, blocking me. Nothing personal, but you could have been hostile towards my friend. By the way, is the old human still waving?]_

 _[He is.]_

 _[Go figure. Anyway, the Devourer can't do anything either, so we're stuck in the back. For now, you're in charge.]_

 _[Then I'm free to go?]_

 _[You should really follow the old human for the moment. He will look into this and try to allow us out.]_

 _[Will you let me out after that?]_

 _[It depends of your actions. If you're acting properly, then yes, I'll let you out. I'm not a monster. Why?]_

 _[I want to verify your words. I don't remember wanting to harm children, but I hear the truth in your voice. I fear that the heir may have done something to control me somehow.]_

And should it be true, he would meant that the heir had denied everything her master had stand for, and he would pay for it.

 _\- DWW -_

"Hey, Devourer." asked a subconscious wizard, "You got stuck before? The Wasp incident?"

" **Indeed."**

"And you're really sure that you can't remember that chant?"

" **I am sure. Only Zaar ever could."**

"That was the wolf-guy, right?"

 _[Speaker and loud voice are too noisy.]_

 _[Sorry.]_

Weird, the cat-lady was shivering, like every time she spoke with the speaker.

Was she saying something wrong?

"Will it last, Albus?"

"I think not, Minerva. With a little luck, Harry should be back in his dorm in a couple of days. At worst, it will take a few weeks. Don't worry, he won't miss any class."

"Well, F...!" cursed the psyche wizard.

 _[I'm trying to sleep here.]_

 _[Sorry.]_


	6. 06 - Three Of A Kind

Classes were scheduled to restart the following day. Like in any other institution, it should have brought forth sadness for the children freshly debarked from the Express. But this year, the school was instead being more alive than ever, filled with the exited and mirthful voices of the students.

The headmaster had just announced that the beast roaming the grounds, whatever it had been, had been taken care of during the holidays by a hired mercenary. With the threat gone, the air felt more breathable.

The only exception to that joyful painting – if you weren't taking the pureblood supremacists Slytherins into account – was Harry Potter.

"Hi, Harry." said a Ravenclaw, seating at the wrong table. Or the right one, depending of the point of view.

"Hello, Luna." he answered, still scowling.

"Is something wrong, Harry?"

Her dreamy voice was mind-soothing for the boy, just… not enough to answer.

"He's been like that since morning." said the smartest witch of her generation, "But everything's fine, it's not like we haven't seen him in weeks, right Luna?"

"That wasn't his fault, Hermione. The headmaster wanted to see him."

"There's no way he was in that office since Christmas."

Harry snorted, in a 'better laugh than cry' kind of way. He truly had been in that office, and it had been boring.

The basilisk had slept for hours every day, dedicating only a handful of minutes to a mice-composed feast before going back into slumber. Had he not witnessed it, Harry would have never believed that the snake could be that lazy.

The Devourer had spent the first week cursing at the snake, before running out of insult to throw at her. He had then shared some more memories with Harry, before settling down in a grim silence.

Him? He had sung, gone through his text-books from memories, pictured the dressing down he would get from Hermione with several variations depending on the immediate bystanders, and tried to motivate the basilisk to chat, to no avail.

"Seriously Harry, where have you been?"

How to answer to a 'smarter than you' kind of witch?

"In the Chamber of Secret, taking down a Basilisk."

That was enough for the girl to choke on her food.

"Wha… what?"

"Kidding. Believe it or not, I was in the headmaster's office."

"Did he sequestrated you?" asked Luna.

Harry knew that even if it had been the case, the girl wouldn't have mind. She was just being her normal curious self.

"No, it was for my own good."

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"How can being quarantined in an office be for your good in any way?"

"Something led him to believe that the creature was after me. Since no room in the castle is more secured that his office, I was to remain there until the beast was gone." or at least, that was the cover story they had agreed on.

"Makes sense." chirped Luna in her usual tone.

"I guess it does." admitted the other girl. "But then, why are you angry? The beast is gone, you should be happy."

"Happy? I got robbed of my holidays, Hermione."

"Can't you catch the thief and get them back?"

"It doesn't work that way, Luna."

"But… you were with the Headmaster, it must have been exhilarating. He's the greatest wizard since Merlin, he must have countless stories and magic tricks."

"He sure does, and it could have been great, if he had shared anything. He spent his time with his nose in a book, and I had nothing to do but sleep and watch out the window. If it was possible, I'm sure I would have died of boredom."

"Oh."

"That would have been awful." said Luna, smirk on her face.

The girl could be suddenly so sarcastic, and some of the stories she'd shared were so disturbing, that Harry was always a little wary of her. He was really wondering how people could believe her to be insane.

"Not really, I would have had an excuse to skip classes."

"HARRY!"

"You're no fun, Hermione."

 _\- DWW -_

Severus Snape wasn't happy. Not that he was really familiar with that emotion to begin with, but you know what I mean.

Since they'd heard that the beast was gone, the students had bathed the school in an awful aura of happiness, no matter what he had done to get rid of it. Seven detentions, the loss of close to three hundred points for every House but his own and a three-digit number of insults hadn't been enough to shut the ambient joy down.

But more that their overflowing and nauseous positive spirit, what truly displeased him was the sheer stupidity of the children. They were so retarded that they all had stopped on the surface of Albus' words, none the wiser. If it was true that the beast's demise had been announced, the culprit and supposed heir of Slytherin hadn't been mentioned and was more than likely still active.

What was the beast? What had happened to it? Who was the mysterious mercenary and what had he gained for his intervention? Had the Chamber of Secret been located? Were there any leads on the heir? Would Potter be excluded?

With perhaps the exception of that last one, those were the questions that should have been on every student's mind, and Severus wanted answers.

In an angry stomp, the potion master opened the door to the headmaster's office.

"Albus, I need to see you about the ~"

And the words died in his throat.

"Severus, how nice of you to join us. Demon drop?"

"Good afternoon, Professor."

The boy was here. Playing wizard chess with the headmaster and eating lemon drops, of all things.

Severus quickly regained his composure.

"It is way past curfew. What are you doing here, Mister Potter?"

Surprisingly, Albus provided an answer.

"I realized a couple of weeks ago that one is never to old to enjoy his youth, so I challenged Harry here to a few games. I'm currently leading two to one."

"You cheated with the Explosive Snap."

"I don't see how I could have."

"I'm pretty sure you used some rules from the Bavarian version."

"Would I do that to you, Harry?"

"We both know you would."

"True… Anyway, you were saying, Severus?"

That conversation was surreal, but the potion master wasn't a master occlumens for nothing. In mere seconds, his mask was back.

"I want to discuss some matters concerning the school." he said, before sneering "Private matters inappropriate for a child."

"I see. I suppose it is about the monster?"

A nod.

"Then you can speak freely."

Severus' eyes went wide open.

"Albus, you can't be serious? The child~"

"Is still here and know everything there is to know about the monster."

"Five points for your cheek, M. Potter. Why discuss this with the boy, Albus?"

"The monster was targeting Harry during the holidays, so I relocated him here to keep him under my watch. Naturally, I had to inform him of the hunt's advancement."

"I see."

Obvious case of favoritism, but that wasn't surprising. The Potters had always managed to sway the masses, and the headmaster wasn't excluded.

"So, concerning the monster~"

"A Basilisk."

"Five points, M. Potter. A basilisk you say?"

"Indeed."

"The King of Serpents, I should have guessed."

"Not a King, a Queen."

"And how would you know?"

 _[She told me.]_

"Ten points for intimidation. Should I hear you speak parseltongue again, I'll have you expelled."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Severus. Language discrimination wouldn't do the school good press."

Damn that boy.

"Detention it will be, then."

"That would be acceptable."

Oh, the boy was glaring at Albus. It would seems that his so-called Potter-charm wasn't enough this time. Ah, the sweet taste of victory.

"Now, concerning the basilisk, what happened to the corpse?"

"You must be thinking about the raw ingredients."

"I am. If it truly was Salazar Slytherin's pet, it must reach gigantic proportions. The number of materials and potion ingredients collectable from it is considerable."

"It probably is. The mercenary was sincerely thankful for the carcass."

"YOU LET IT TO THE MERCENARY?"

"Severus, I must ask you to calm down."

"Why would you do that? That snake was school property, the man will probably sell it at the first occasion and use up the money on alcohol."

Mercenaries were among the worsts, right between vampires and Dark Lords. He had met many during his time as a Death Eater, and none had ever been a decent human being. The only constant in their life was money.

"That man has saved the school at the cost of his health, he deserved this reward. He has all my trust, Severus, and I can assure you that he will use what he gained to fight evil."

"So he's one of your Light champion then?"

"Something like that, yes."

The Light, humph.

"Concerning the Chamber, has it been located?"

"Yep."

From the way that had been said, the boy was probably thinking the mere question to be stupid and not worth to be answered in any other way.

"Five more points for you intervention, M. Potter."

There, putting back a student in its place was so simple. Truly, Severus could barely contain his smile. That day wasn't so bad after all.

"Even though Harry may have been a bit too enthusiast about it, it is true that the Chamber has been found. Sadly, its location shall remain secret. It reeks of too much dark magic to be of use to us, I hope you understand."

"Of course."

He couldn't. The Chamber could be an invaluable resource and Albus was throwing that advantage away.

"And regarding the heir?" he said, glaring at Harry.

"Still not me."

"Five points for interference, and five more for disrespect."

He knew that the boy couldn't possibly be the heir, but he could always try and put the blame on him. If he was lucky, the boy would be expelled.

"Sadly, no progress were made in that direction."

"I see. Shall you make any discovery…"

"Be sure that I will contact you."

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I must return to my lesson plan."

"Of course. Good night to you, Severus."

"Albus."

"Good night, Professor."

Severus humphed. That boy was a bane, how he wished that he could just expel him.

He left the room and return to his dungeon, cursing under his breath. One day, he would get rid of Harry Potter, and that day would be the sweetest of his existence.

 _\- DWW -_

The door closed and Albus let himself fall in his seat, sighing.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"Why? Snape has never invaded your office before?"

"He has, but never has he displayed such animosity."

With the exception of every other meeting involving Harry and his friends.

"You know he's treating me this way on a daily basis, right?"

"Sadly, I do. I fear seeing you reminds him to much of your father and the life-debt he has toward him."

"Too bad that there's no section about being a jerk in a life-debt agreements, right?"

Albus thought about it for a few seconds. Though 'being a jerk' wasn't proper magical terminology, clauses working around that specific conduct – should one ever find a way of adding them to a vow – would solved many problems in the Wizardry World. He would have to look into it sometimes.

"You know what he went through, Harry. I'm sure you can understand that Severus has troubles getting over his resentment."

"I know, but it doesn't mean that I have to approve."

The boy was right, Severus was acting like a four year old throwing a temper tantrum. He would have to be careful as to not let it grow out of proportion.

But for now, he had to get some rest and mull over his strategy. That chess game was turning badly for him.

"Well, it is getting late and I believe that we should retire for the night. We shall postpone our game and my glorious victory to another day."

"What was that?"

"Oh, I believe you heard me quite well, Harry."

"You seriously want to play it that way?"

The old wizard decided that a smile was worth any answer.

"Fine, I accept your challenge. Prepare handkerchiefs, because I'll make you cry."

"We'll see about that."

"Oh, we will. Goodnight Headmaster."

"Goodnight Harry."

Ans his young protege went to the door, throwing one last sentence while it close behind him.

"And don't bother with moving the pieces, I memorized the board's placement."

Hogwarts' headmaster moved his hand away from the white tower as if it had been on fire. He would definitely have to look if the merging with the Devourer hadn't given the boy some extrasensory abilities.

 _\- DWW -_

Days had been calm at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Well, there was an underlying tension of sort going through the halls, but most were unaware of it.

That tension was building between the headmaster and a well known young wizard. A game war was on, and it was taken seriously.

"Harry James Potter, what are you reading?"

"A poker guide, Hermione. It's written on the cover, see?"

"But why are you reading it in Potion?"

"More interesting and I'm learning something for once."

 _\- DWW -_

"Albus, I wanted to see you about… what are you doing?"

The headmaster and the talking hat looked at her, at the pile of sweets on their side, at the cards on the table, at the ones held by the wizard and the ones that Fawkes was holding in his beak for the Sorting Hat, before going back to her.

"Hey Mini, wanna join?"

"We're playing poker. I must train if I am to face Harry tomorrow."

"Shouldn't you be answering the Board's letter?"

"I will… later. For now, I want to rescue those poor abducted lemon drops."

"Bah, as if you could. You're two centuries too young to face me."

"We shall see."

"Yes, yes. Face the truth, I'm plucking you – no offense Fawkes. And be thankful that I agreed on sweets-tokens, or you'd be stark naked by now, Albus."

That was enough for Minerva's face to take a pretty deep red colour.

"Oh, Miny's having dirty thoughts. You're sure you don't want to play? We can switch to strip poker if you want."

The Gryffindor's head turned heels and exited the office as if all demons of hell were after her.

"Was that really necessary?" asked the headmaster.

The sorting hat turned to his phoenix assistant, which merely shook his head. The hat smirked.

"Of course it was."

 _\- DWW -_

Aside from this game war, the school was going around nicely. The beast had been slayed, the halls were once again safe and the petrified students would come out of it in no time once the mandrake would have matured enough. Everything was fine…

Until a certain blonde Ravenclaw set foot into the Gryffindors' tower.

"Luna? How did you get the password for… wait, I don't want to know. What do you want?"

"Harry dear, it has been too long and I need your help satisfying some urges right this instant."

The whole room strangle themselves on their drinks and/or saliva.

"Dear?"

"Been too long?"

"Satisfying urges?"

"They couldn't be…? Could they?"

"Excuse me?" weakly managed Hermione.

Harry was too stupefied to say anything.

"Sorry Hermione, I have needs and no time to chat. Come on Harry, I found the perfect spot."

"Needs?"

"Perfect spot?"

"Wait, so they're really..."

"No way!"

The girl grabbed the wizard's arm and pulled him out of the common room, leaving behind thunderstruck students, a crying redhead and a bushy-haired young witch which couldn't understand the sudden emptiness in her chest.

 _\- DWW -_

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

As sole answer to Harry's outburst, Luna's head bent to the side in a perfect 45° angle.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Let me be clear, Luna. I would rather explore all of Britain's Shadow or die several hundred times in a row than date you. You're a great friend, but you're just too scary – no offense meant – to be girlfriend material… to anyone."

That statement was seconded by the Devourer.

The blonde smiled.

"I know and none taken."

A fuse went off in the wizard's head.

"Then why making them all believe that we're together?"

"Remember what I told you about unwanted jumps in Shadow? Well, I had one earlier. I was on my way to visit Moaning Myrtle, but I ended up meeting a dozen Crawlers instead… it was fun."

The Ravenclaw seemed to recall the incident. A disturbing smile made its way to her face.

"Yeah… fun. Anyway, someone apparently threw this diary in Myrtle's booth and it severed her connection to it, forcing her into Shadow. Don't worry, her link with the girls' toilet is building back up as we speak, so she should be back in the material world in a couple of hours. As for the diary… well, I can't place it, but I feel that something's amiss with it. Since you yourself had your soul forced out by Voldy's one, I thought that you may have an idea on how we should handle it."

"Luna, it still doesn't explain the dating masquerade."

"That? I just figured that one day, you would need to have an explanation for your disappearances. Now you do, and so do I."

Oh, that actually made sense. How surprising.

Not that Harry wasn't expecting it from the blonde girl, but he couldn't believe that he hadn't though about it earlier and tried to find a proper explanation himself.

He sighed.

"Fine. Just… warn me next time you decide to screw with my school life."

"Where would be the fun in that?"

Her smirk returned full force.

"Besides, I thought you didn't want to me to screw with anything?"

Harry sighed again.

That girl… If he hadn't be dead already, she would have been the death of him.


	7. 07 - Inky Soul

Luna Lovegood was ecstatic. The Chamber of Secret, she was in Slytherin's legendary Chamber of Secret. Well, the Shadow aspect of it, and in the company of an angry Devourer, but those didn't mattered, she had an article to write.

Were those sculptures hand-made or had magic been involved? Was the Salazar's statue accurate? Where could led that tunnel? The Basilisk's nest maybe? Where was the beast's body anyway? Oh, silly her, there was none. Harry had absorbed it. Now, how many entrances were scattered around the school grounds? She would have to make a plan.

" **Cease thee useless running, girl."**

The ravenclaw stopped dead in her tracks, camera in hand, and turned to the Devourer. The motion was almost in slow motion, reenforcing the uneasiness of the demon at seeing the wicked grin on her face. Remembering that human-filth or not, that girl was 'The Nightmare', the Devourer wisely choose to shut up, return to his work and let her do her things.

 _\- DWW -_

Harry James Potter was a patient boy.

Just not _that_ patient.

Which was precisely why, upon finding that the headmaster had left the castle on an errand, he decided to deal with the diary himself.

The Chamber of Secret was available to contain whatever could happen, and he would have Luna with him. Things would be fine.

He had forgotten one tiny little thing… Luna Lovegood was a reporter and just couldn't put a good subject aside.

"Lunaaaa."

"Coming."

The blonde girl soon returned to the chamber from one of the smaller side tunnel. Her eyes were shining with that weird dream-like sparkle.

"Did you knew that there is a potion lab down here?"

"No, I did not."

The witch had just spent close to three hours running around, taking notes and pictures, switching between Shadow and the material world every now and then. With every discovery, her face had lightened up a little more, harassing Harry with questions all the while. The Devourer had originally been studying the diary when she had began, but had hurried to finish his inspection. The demon had then quickly retreated, letting the young wizard deal with her.

"Are you done now?"

"Sure."

"Good."

Now that The Quibbler's readers were satisfied, or would be, it was finally time to open the small black book. Luna's claim regarding it's unnatural nature had been proven right, as the Devourer's screening had revealed that the diary did contained something fool. The Basilisk had been pretty adamant that it belonged to her master's heir, as she had seen him with it and his scent still lingered on the leather.

Unwilling to let the Ravenclaw endanger herself, Harry grabbed a feather and opened the diary of one Tom. M. Riddle.

That thing was meant to be written on, and that's what he did.

" _My name is Harry James Potter."_

He waited a few second as the ink was slowly swallowed by the paper.

" _Hello, Harry James Potter. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle."_

 _\- DWW -_

Things looked grim for Hogwart's headmaster.

Or rather, he was looking grimly at something. But he had reasons to, if the diary in front of him really was what he believed it to be.

A horcrux, a part of one's soul put as failsafe in an object in order to escape death. As long as the soul remained, the wizard would be an undead, capable of being recalled back from beyond the veil by a number of dark rituals.

That process was among the most vile he knew, calling for a cold-blooded murder and the desecration of the body, and yet for an instant, Dumbledore was glad for it. If Tom had truly created an Horcrux, making any sort of pact with demons from Shadow was now beyond his reach. None would want a mutilated soul.

The old wizard momentarily shivered at the thought of a Devourer-fused Voldemort.

Recovering, he held up the battered and punctured journal, the thing happily oozing black goo in his sleeve.

"Can you explain what happened to it?"

"Well..."

 _\- DWW -_

It was too easy.

Harry was writing, the diary was answering. The soul in it – for it had to be one – was polite and open. It had showed concern about the assaults, the seconds since his own time in the school, and tried to gain Harry's trust. To do so, it had provided memories, evidences concerning Hagrid's past actions and a pet of his. The scene was incriminating at worst, and misleading at best.

Harry wasn't fooled.

He had related the entirety of the discussion to his demon and basilisk, which reactions hadn't been pretty.

The snake had been scandalized that the heir hadn't objected to the other speaker's descriptions of the events. A death fifty years ago, several unnecessary petrifications now, the heir had truly manipulated her into hunting his enemies. That he had even tried to pin the blame on others spoke volumes on the man that she had once trusted.

The Devourer, just like the wizard, had accurately guessed that the heir had somehow left his soul in the diary. Given that he had had the ability to open the passageways and mind-control the basilisk to do his binding through the use of parseltongue, that was the only reasonable explanation. More simply, mere memories wouldn't have been able to write back in the diary without a proper conscience. The demon was just as offended about it as the snake. Mortals weren't supposed to accomplish such acts of rebellion against life by themselves. The last ones he had seen attempt such a madness, had started a chain of events which had led to the shattering of the Godslayer Sword. With the God of the Land dead and the Sword destroyed, Dimensions had started to shift and what had once been the Dreamworld had fallen. Ever since, there had been nothing but Shadow. Humans where foolish, and always will be.

"Harry, I think I have something."

Putting down his quill, Harry turned to Luna. Far from being done with her articles, the girl had eagerly followed the whole conversation, taking more notes for future references.

"What is it Luna?"

"He said his name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, right? Well, check this out." she said, showing her notebook.

That specific page had been covered in letters. Being who she was, she had been searching for a hidden message, something in the name of this student from the past. As absurd as it may sound, she had found one.

 _\- DWW -_

"Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yep." asserted Luna, "It was a good old anagram, easy-peasy."

"How very sharp of you, Miss Lovegood."

"I aim to please."

Her smile was wide. Curiously, it shined once, in perfect synchronization with the headmaster's legendary eye-twinkle.

Harry sweatdropped.

"Now, what did you do next?"

 _\- DWW -_

"Harry, what are you waiting for?"

" **Are you're sure about this, boy?"**

"Do you have a better idea?" asked said boy, his voice clearly irritated.

The demon apparently didn't, mentally shrugging before going silent.

"Harry."

The wizard grumbled. Between The Devourer and Luna, he couldn't get one minute to think about it. But that thing was harming students, and the time to ponder his thoughts was long gone. He had to act.

 _[Do it.]_

The basilisk, currently in charge of the body, answered the command.

 _[With pleasure.]_

Opening her jaw wide, she bit in the diary. Her poison, one of the most lethal and potent magical ingredient on the planet, melted leather and paper with ease. An inhuman scream escaped the decaying journal as the thing immediately started to ooze black slime.

 _\- DWW -_

Albus was contemplative. Things were bleaker, and yet brighter than before.

"It screamed… so it was one."

"You know what it is?" asked Luna.

"I do, even though I must admit that I'd prefer not to. That diary was an horcrux, the darkest magic of all, created through murder of an innocent."

And thus, the old wizard explained what it entailed, emotion akin to disgust in his voice. The atmosphere in the room went down by several degrees.

After an eternity of uncomfortable malaise, Harry shyly asked the one thing on his mind.

"I was one, right? My scar was a horcrux. That's why I had those headaches around Quirrell."

Dumbledore's face fell, he opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to reassure the boy, to tell him that he still had time, to explain why he had kept that secret.

He closed it instead, adopted a contemplative look and said "Was? Harry, you did say was. But why using a past tense? It makes no sense… unless..."

The two students were smiling, a revelation hit him.

"Unless you're confident that it is behind you."

The headmaster facepalmed "Of course, you died last year. With the Devourer only claiming you, the horcrux either went to the other side or was devoured in Shadow."

"The Devourer ate it himself." beamed Harry, "He recognized the feeling when the diary got bitten and told me about it."

"Did he eat that piece too?"

"He did. Oh, and he's saying that it tasted fool."

"Yes, I would have assumed it would."

It was a ripped soul part, after all, one belonging to a dark wizard.

"I've been wondering something, Headmaster." interrupted Luna, "Do you think that Harry could be a natural parselmouth? After all, the horcrux has been gone for a long time and he still kept the ability."

"Your guess is a good as mine, miss Lovegood. He could indeed be a natural, or the horcrux could have left an imprint."

"It could also be a side-product of the Devourer eating the pieces." mused the girl.

"No, that one isn't possible. He never gains abilities from a soul, unless he fully incorporate it. Even then, the soul doesn't share it with him. We may be together, but he'll never learn parseltongue, just like I'll never be able to produce basilisk venom."

Dumbledore smiled warmly and said "Natural or not, your gift should be nurtured."

"I think my dad bought a parselmagic tome to try and decipher it a few years ago. I'll see if he still has it."

"That would be most helpful miss Lovegood. I believed that I also have a few grimoires, and will see to have them delivered to you. But for now, you should go back to your common rooms. Curfew is in twenty minutes and I wouldn't want miss Granger to chastises you again, Harry."

The two students thanked him, leaving the office after wishing him a good night.

The headmaster, never loosing his smile, put the destroyed artifact in a drawer which he charmed heavily. Satisfied with his work, he allowed himself a lemon drop.

Now, what to say about this during breakfast?

 _\- DWW -_

The great hall was just as lively as any other morning since the beast had been slain. The cheerful mood was interrupted by the distinctive sound of a spoon hitting repeatedly a glass.

The headmaster making a declaration at breakfast? That was unusual.

"Students, I have the pleasure to announce that the supposed heir has been stopped."

All eyes turned to the Gryffindor table.

Potter was still there, eating a pancake and talking to his newly rumored girlfriend Luna Lovegood. He wasn't even acknowledging the looks he was receiving.

But if the heir had been stopped, and Potter was still here, then it meant that … he was innocent?

"Now, don't look at mister Potter like than. His involvement has always been a pure coincidence. In fact, the one responsible never was a student, but an extremely dark object. It has been successfully destroyed yesterday and shall never threaten anyone ever again."

A Gryffindor readhead shivered at the dark object part, before smiling weakling after learning of its fate.

It went unnoticed.

"Thank you for your attention, you may return to your meal."

 _\- DWW -_

Hermione had a weird look on her face.

He knew that look.

It was the one stating that he was about to be in big trouble.

"Harry James Potter, tell me you didn't do it."

"It depends. What am I supposed to have done?"

"When the headmaster told us about the culprit being caught, you weren't surprised. Because you already knew."

Well, no need to lie there.

"Yes, I knew. What of it?"

"How?"

"Remember when Luna kidnapped me in the common room?"

His friend nodded slowly, the motion reluctant, as if rust had paralyzed her neck.

In fact, Harry even believed that he had seen an emotion cross Hermione's eyes.

Hurt.

But that couldn't be, right? She had no reason to be hurt. None at all.

He brushed the feeling away and carried on with his explanation.

"She'd just found the diary."

"What diary?"

"The dark object, responsible for this. It was a diary."

"So you took it to Dumbledore then."

"Yes."

Silence fell for a few seconds.

"So… Luna and you are… together?" she asked in an unsure voice, eyes locked on the floor.

Harry hesitated.

Hermione being shy? Acting nervous? Impossible.

Yet she was, and he had the feeling that he may know why. Maybe, as twisted as it sounded, she feared that his supposed relationship with Luna would come between them. That their friendship would be over.

Stupid, completely and utterly stupid. First of all, he would never date Luna. And even if he was dating her, he would never abandon Hermione.

So now, he had two choices. He could lie, go along with the gossip and enjoy his free time, but hurt his friend in the process. Or for once, he could say the truth. A half-truth at least. Explain to Hermione that it was but a joke, a mean for him to be left alone.

It wasn't a choice, it was an obvious move.

"It's… well… no. No, we're not together."

His friend relaxed immediately.

"We both needed some alone time, and could get any by ourselves, so she thought about this. Now we can use each other as an excuse if we need to."

"I… see."

She was relieved, it was manifest with that small smile she was making now. And was that an unshed tear in her eyes?

"So, why do you need that time alone?" she asked more joyfully.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you think a guy would want to be alone?"

She caught on what he was thinking and blushed slightly.

"Please, tell me it's not for that."

He smirked.

"It's not."

"Thank Merlin."

"Though I can't help but wonder what you know of that, Hermione, or why you thought it may be what I was doing."

"I...I..."

The blush started to reach star-fusions proportions.

"Okay, I was just joking so calm down. Take a deep breath, that it. Now, to answer your question, I need the time to read."

"But… you can do that in the common room."

"True, but it's not quiet enough."

"What about the library then?"

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. Madame Pince is a demon."

And he knew his stuff about demons.

"Besides, I can't train in the library."

"Train? For quidditch you mean?"

"No, not for quidditch."

He breathed deeply and started to explain that he was a target. Always had been and always would be. Voldermort's followers were out there, and they had years of magical knowledge on him. For that reason, he had to learn. He needed to be as prepared as possible.

Hermione wasn't pleased and tried to make a speech disturbingly resembling one of Dumbledore's. He was young, he had much to live for, he shouldn't act this pessimistically and…

"I'm not the one who need to be convinced. Unless you can somehow make the Death-eaters back away, I'll keep on being pessimistic."

And it wasn't being pessimistic when you'd already died twice in as many years.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired. Good night."

She answered, but he had already left.

 _\- DWW -_

From there, the year went smoothly.

Classes resumed, and if Snape's actions toward him worsened – since the man had apparently decided that the loss of the basilisk and the general good mood were Harry's fault –, the other teachers were apologetic for their misconceptions.

Ron came to apologies, along with a few others. It all ended up brushed under the carpet, as if it never happened.

Truth be told, Harry couldn't care less. He spent his free time in the Chamber, making it his official unofficial quarters after a bit of cleaning up.

There, he practiced spells, potions, everything that may be useful to keep him alive… again.

When he wasn't himself, he let the basilisk roam the Forbidden Forest and the demon hunt in Shadow. Luna even accompanied the Devourer on a few escapade. He stopped to shiver in her presence after the third one, but would still flinch slightly when she made an abrupt movement.

Hermione tried on a few more occasion to discuss his choices, but it always ended the same way. She would began to patronize him, he would made it clear that neither of them had a voice in this, she would be disappointed, but ultimately yet reluctantly agree.

The end of term finally came, with the sound of students packing and the clear whistle of the Hogwarts Express.

From his seat, Harry watched the school gets small and smaller.

"See you soon." he whispered, his mind already turned toward the family he'd prefer not to see.

On the opposite couch, Hermione eyed him warily.

"Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You were day-dreaming, Harry." she said.

He sighed.

"I'm fine, Hermione."

Or he should be.

His family would probably ignored him once again, leaving him to his loneliness.

" **Stop worrying, boy. Thou know it won't last and we'll be there for thee."**

True.

And now, with the basilisk and the Devourer, he had two different ways to escape. Maybe he would have to let the snake take over during dinner and slither away from the table. He could already see the look on his uncle's face. Maybe he would even have a seizure.

He chuckled.

Yes, this summer would be interesting.

 _[Can't you speak more quietly? I'm trying to sleep here.]_

The wizard ignored the lazy snake and grinned at his friend.

"We all are."

* * *

 _Dead Wizard Walking - End of Book I_


End file.
